“At the beginning of July, we are organizing the All-Belarusian Universiade, where we will also invite universities from countries that are friendly to us,” the minister told TASS. He did not name which countries were specifically affected, but Belarus, for example, is offered. This supports the Russian aggressor in Ukraine, which is why the sanctions also affect his athletes. Belarusians are also not allowed to compete internationally in most sports.
Matycin was president of the International Federation of University Sports (FISU) until last year, but left office due to punishment for systematic doping in Russia. Thus, after the outbreak of war in Ukraine, international sports organizations excluded Russian and Belarusian athletes and officials from their events at least until the end of this year. This also applies to the Summer Universiade in China.
In addition, FISU has taken away from Russia and Belarus three events scheduled for this year. For the time being, however, she has left the next year of the top summer event of academic sport in Ekaterinburg, which should take place in this Russian city in 2023. The usual two-year interval is shorter due to the postponement of last year’s Universiade to this year.
