A number of freedivers are calling on AIDA to hold a vote over whether to allow Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete in freediving competitions under no flag.
In March, in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, 17 countries voted in favor of preventing Russian and Belarusian athletes from participating in AIDA freediving competitions, while 14 countries voted against it.
This week, though, a group of AIDA instructors, athletes, and judges said they had sent a letter to the AIDA Assembly to consider whether to allow Russian/Belarusian athletes and judges to participate under no flag.
The letter, posted on AIDA’s Facebook Group, adds:
“Under statute 9.4 if 20% agree then this vote can be proposed and the assembly can all then vote on this matter. It is our understanding that the following nationals have agreed to this:
-
-
- Netherlands
- Latvia
- Italy
- Serbia
- Slovenia
- Malaysia
- Colombia
-
“And therefore the 20% of the assembly have agreed. We are therefore asking for a vote to consider Russian and Belarusian athletes/judges to be able to dive/judge under no flag.”
The ensuing comments to that post have ranged from supporting the ban on Russian/Belarusian athletes to calling for not bringing politics into sport.
Check out the post here.
