Ukraine's Sports Minister Calls Heraskevych Disqualification Unjust

Ukraine's Response to IOC Decision

By Conal Quinn

Background on Heraskevych's Disqualification

MILAN, Feb 12 (Reuters) - Ukraine's Sports Minister Matvii Bidnyi believes the decision to disqualify Vladyslav Heraskevych from his skeleton event at the Milano Cortina Games was unjust but told Reuters there was no question of his team pulling out of the Olympics.

Impact on Ukrainian Athletes

Heraskevych was disqualified moments before his skeleton race at Cortina D'Ampezzo on Thursday because he insisted on wearing a helmet bearing images of Ukrainian athletes who have been killed in the ongoing war against Russia.

Call for International Support

The International Olympic Committee, who tried desperately to broker a last-minute compromise, said the helmet breached its rules on political protests and slogans in the field of play.

"We all think this is unjust -- it was an unjust decision," Bidnyi told Reuters in an interview at a Milan hotel.

"(The IOC rules) are about political agitation. There is no political agitation. Vladyslav does not wear a helmet with our political leaders, with some political parties' signs. 

"He wears helmets with our national heroes, with athletes who were killed by Russia. We are here only because of our defenders dying every day. Why can't we commemorate them?

"What (the rules) mean is you should be neutral," he added. "How can you be neutral when somebody kills your friends?"  

Despite the challenges of preparing for the Games during a war, Ukraine sent its biggest Winter Olympics team since 2010 to Milano Cortina and Bidnyi said they would continue to compete. 

"Why boycott?" he said. "In my personal opinion, this decision is more harmful for the IOC's reputation than for Vlad Heraskevych, because Vladyslav Heraskevych is already a hero for the Ukrainian people.

"We prepared a big team, 46 athletes here, in conditions where we can't even provide electricity to sports arenas. And there is big value for us to be here, of course, but it's a really upsetting decision."

RUSSIAN AND BELARUSIANS BANNED FROM OLYMPICS

Athletes from Russia and Belarus, which provided Moscow with military support, were banned from the Olympics after the 2022 invasion but some have been allowed to return to the Games as neutral athletes.

Russian and Belarusian officials have repeatedly condemned restrictions on their athletes as discriminatory and politically motivated, arguing that sport should remain separate from international conflicts. 

Bidnyi, a former bodybuilder, said sport could play a major role in bringing about peace in Ukraine and urged the IOC and other sports federations not to soften their stance on Russia. 

"The international sports shouldn't allow them to compete until the aggression stops," he said. 

"We need to push on them, and the international sports community must and can influence it. 

"It's very important that all of the world condemn this aggression so they stop killing people ... And then maybe they can become again a part of the international community."

Bidnyi said none of the Ukrainian athletes at the Games were engaging in propaganda simply by remembering their war dead. 

"It's not a protest. It's just a commemoration," he said. "And if our team is here only because they lost their lives, how can we forget them? How can we betray them? How can we betray their memory?"

(Reporting by Conal Quinn, writing by Nick Mulvenney, editing by Ken Ferris)