Finland withdrew from the World Cup team gymnastics, objection to the entry of Russia and Belarus to the Games – “An absolutely unsustainable situation”

Finland does not send representatives to the World Team Gymnastics Championships because teams from Russia and Belarus participate in the event.

Finland will be left out of November’s World Team Gymnastics Championships because the teams from Russia and Belarus will be able to participate. The board of the Gymnastics Association decided on the matter.

Kazakhstan, the host country of the World Cup, has not imposed sanctions on Russians or Belarusians. According to the gymnastics federation, the board of the International Team Gymnastics Federation IFAGG has not made a decision to exclude Russian and Belarusian teams from the federation’s competitions, but rather lets the country organizing the competition decide for itself whether the countries will be allowed to participate in the competitions.

– This is an unsustainable situation. More than a year ago, we made an initiative to the board of the International Team Gymnastics Federation that the Russian and Belarusian teams should be banned from international competition. No decision has been made, President of the Gymnastics Association Kaisa Vikkula stated.

– Unfortunately, our position and view that Russians and Belarusians should not compete is in the minority. We have actively influenced the decision-makers of the international association, Vikkula explained.

The Gymnastics Federation says in its press release that, in addition to Finland, other European countries are about to be excluded from the World Championships. The leading country in the sport, for example, Estonia, will not participate in the Games.

Minet knew how to prepare for the decision

Last year, the Tampere team Minetit, which reached the World Cup silver in team gymnastics, knew how to prepare for the fact that at the end of November the team will not compete in the World Championships in Kazakhstan.

– We follow the policy of the Gymnastics Federation and the Olympic Committee in this matter. In our sport, the host country gets to decide whether teams from Russia and Belarus can participate. Previously, we didn’t participate in the World Cup contested in Asia, for example, for the same reason, said Minetti’s coach Titta Heikkilä for STT.

Finland is one of the giants of team gymnastics. At last year’s World Championships, Minetit won silver and Gloria from Helsinki won bronze. The championship was won by the Bulgarian national team.

Due to the cancellation of the start to the World Championships, Minetit decided to return to the spring program.

– We decided to save the program practiced for the World Championships for next year’s games in Estonia, and we will now have more time to refine it. I hope those games are not moved to a country that allows Russians and Belarusians to participate. Of course, a year is a long time, and other things can happen, Heikkilä referred to the world situation.

In order to make its value more widely known, the Gymnastics Federation nominates an international judge for the sport to the IFAGG board Jaana from Wideniuswho previously belonged to the board of the organization