Ukrainian skiers will not take part in the Salpausselä competition in Lahti this weekend.
Several Russian athletes will compete in top-level skiing events in Finland this week.
The Salpausselä World Cup competition will be held over the weekend in Lahti. The Russian team in Thursday’s sprint, for example, will be seen Julia Stupak and Gleb Retivyh.
Competition Manager of the Salpausselä Games Tami Kiuru tells Urheilu that the Ukrainian national team will not compete in Lahti. According to Kiuru, the athletes of the Ukrainian national team have not registered for the competition by the deadline. Registration for cross-country skiing expired on February 18th.
Chairman of the Finnish Ski Association Markku Haapasalmi According to the Finnish Ski Association, ensuring the safety of Russian athletes has already been discussed.
– Tonight we are already competing in the stadium and of course we, as the organizer, will ensure the safety of Russian athletes. After all, they are completely innocent of this situation. Of course, we make sure they have safe conditions to compete, Haapasalmi says.
How does the situation affect the rest of the period from Finland’s point of view?
– First of all, this is an extremely unfortunate situation and we are really sorry about the situation that has arisen. We’ve always been on the finger artery with this thing for the past few days and moments.
– We are in close discussion with the International Ski Federation. We have discussed this with our Nordic colleagues and other colleagues. We hope to receive views from the umbrella organization FIS as soon as possible in the coming days. We will then take a broader view of this program for the rest of the season.
The last cross-country competition in cross-country skiing is taking place in Russia, and the ski jumping race will also be competing in Russia for the rest of the season. Has there been a discussion about whether Finns participate in competitions?
– The debate specifically covers all the events of the latter part of the period. We’re waiting for alignment because this is the kind of thing that this affects our entire ski community. In that sense, it is important that we are with the whole group internationally, look at the guidelines and return to the matter as soon as possible. In a couple of days, hopefully over the weekend at the latest, we will have decisions on the matter.