Russia continues to bomb Ukrainian cities and people.
However, the International Basketball Federation (FIBA), which until now kept the basketball players of the aggressor country and the country helping it, Belarus, on the sidelines, decided to please the warring countries.
On Wednesday, the FIBA board announced that it will allow the Russian and Belarusian teams to participate in the 3×3 international youth competition.
Strictly so the Lithuanian Basketball Association responded.
Also the Latvian Basketball Association, whose president Raimondas Vejuonis was a member of the FIBA Basketball 3x3 Commission until today.
Latvia decided to withdraw, stating that the decision was made without a discussion in the FIBA basketball 3x3 commission, tvnet.lv writes.
“After yesterday’s decision of the FIBA Board regarding the participation of the Russian and Belarusian U-21 basketball teams in the FIBA Nations League and the fact that this case was not considered by the commission responsible for it, I decided to withdraw from the FIBA basketball 3x3 commission”, said R. Vejuonis in a statement.
Qatari official Saud Ali Al-Thani holds the position of FIBA president for the second year, but in reality, long-time Greek general Andreas Zagklis manages affairs in the basketball organization.
There are no Lithuanians on the FIBA board, but Russian Andrejus Kirilenka is among the co-opted members. He has not yet publicly condemned the Russian war in Ukraine.
President of the Russian Basketball Federation Andrei Kirilenko
R. Vejuonis, who was in the commission of basketball trios, said that he will continue to defend his valuable positions.
“Since February 24, 2022, when the world sports community and international organizations strongly condemned the Russian invasion and banned the participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes in international competitions, the position on this issue has weakened over time in many countries and organizations. The Latvian Basketball Association consistently advocates the exclusion of athletes from the aggressor countries from international competitions – and we do this not only with words, but also with deeds, searching and uniting Due to the joint actions of Latvia, other Baltic and Northern European countries, as well as our associations, representatives of the aggressor countries could not participate in European basketball competitions for the fifth year.
We will continue our work to defend these positions until the war in Ukraine ends with a solution acceptable to our allies,” said the president of the Latvian Basketball Federation.
