The Belarusian government maintains the pressure on society and continues its cleaning up against any dissenting voice. Several athletes have already been targeted by reprisals for their support, real or suspected, to the protest movement. This time, it is two young cross-country skiers who find themselves banned from international competitions. A sidelining that looks like a political decision.
Without providing an explanation, the Belarusian Ski Federation deactivated the individual identification numbers of Darya Dolidovich and Sviatlana Andryiuk, 17 and 22. However, without these codes, it is impossible to take part in international competitions.
For the father of the younger of the two sportswomen, his daughter pays for her own political commitment. Sergei Dolidovich, himself a former high-level skier, had been dismissed from the national training center for having supported the opposition. ” I have never hidden my political position. I always said the country needed a change “, He explains to AFP.
Neither Darya nor Sviatlana took part in the 2020 protests, nor signed the open letter calling for free elections, as nearly 2,000 athletes do.
Sviatlana Andryiuk, was to participate in the World Cup in Finland. Previously, she was due to go to train in Russia, but was asked to get off the plane. The young woman explains on the Radio Svoboda website that sports officials accused her of supporting the opposition.
However, the skier affirms that she has never publicly expressed political opinions and is in favor of neutrality in the matter. But after this disappointment, Sviatlana Andriyuk plans to go to Poland, because she says “ it became impossible to live in Belarus “.