[Sport] The UCI expels Russia and Belarus from the UCI calendar and their teams

[[M]anuel]

The Russian and Belarusian national teams, as well as their national teams, will not be able to participate, immediately, in any event on the UCI international calendar, as decided by the Federation's Steering Committee due to the situation in Ukraine after the Russian military invasion.

The measures taken by the UCI Management Committee also include others of great firmness such as withdrawing the “UCI” category from all Russian and Belarusian teams, a decision that affects, for example, Gazprom, in the UCI Pro Team Continental category.

The measures also encompass the withdrawal of all planned events in Russia and Belarus from the 2022 UCI International calendar and will not consider any further registration requests. The national championships of both sanctioned countries are also removed from the calendar.

On the other hand, the appearance of all the emblems, names, acronyms, flags and hymns linked to Russia and Belarus is prohibited in all the events of the UCI international calendar. Therefore, the jerseys of the national champions of Russia and Belarus are prohibited.

The UCI clarifies that Russian and Belarusian license holders are allowed to participate in events on the UCI calendar with their respective teams  as long as they are registered with a UCI team that is neither Russian nor Belarusian.Russian and Belarusian cyclists can also participate in the events of the UCI International Calendar if individual registration is authorized.

As part of its decisions, the UCI has also ruled on the sponsorship of Russian or Belarusian brands and companies. Considering that this would damage the image of the UCI and of cycling in general, said sponsorship will not be authorised.

Therefore, teams and event organizers have been requested not to grant any visibility to Russian or Belarusian sponsors at UCI events.

The UCI has reiterated its great concern about the situation in Ukraine and strongly condemns the aggression of the Russian and Belarusian governments and their breach of the Olympic Truce. The UCI wishes to see a return to peace as quickly as possible and calls for respect for the Olympic values. Indeed, sport in general and cycling in particular are vehicles of peace, friendship, solidarity and tolerance.

The UCI has decided to offer its support to the Ukrainian cycling community and is committed to welcoming Ukrainian athletes to the UCI World Cycling Center (WCC), its education and training center in Aigle, Switzerland.

In this sense, the UCI is in permanent contact with the National Federation of Ukraine. UCI President David Lappartient, together with the President of the European Cycling Union (UEC), Enrico Della Casa, will meet with the President and representatives of the National Federation of Ukraine, during the UEC Congress in Denmark this weekend to define the procedures for reaching out to the help of the Ukrainian cycling community.

https://www.el-carabobeno.com/la-uci-expulsa-a-rusia-y-bielorrusia-del-calendario-uci-y-a-sus-equipos/