European Governing Body LEN Expresses “Strong Support And Solidarity With Ukraine’s Athletes”

LEN Bureau elected on Feb 5, 2022 LEN Extraordinary Congress 2022 Frankfurt Germany Sheraton Hotel Flughafen 20220205 Photo Giorgio Scala / Deepbluemedia /Insidefoto

LEN Bureau: Photo Courtesy: Giorgio Scala / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto

European governing body LEN has expressed its “strong support and solidarity with Ukraine’s athletes” following the military invasion by Russian troops.

It comes after the International Olympic Committee called on international federations to cancel or relocate sports events being held or scheduled for Russia or Belarus.

Premier League club Manchester United have dropped Russian airline Aeroflot’s sponsorship, the Formula One Grand Prix set for Sochi in September has been cancelled and May’s Champions League final has been switched from St Petersburg to Paris.

UEFA – Europe’s football governing body – has said that Russian and Ukrainian clubs and national teams in UEFA competitions will have to play at neutral venues until further notice.

Mykhailo Romanchuk is the most high-profile current Ukrainian swimmer with silver and bronze in the 1500 and 800 free respectively at Tokyo 2020.

Sergiy Frolov also competed at the 2020 Olympics and was sixth in the 800 free and eighth in the 1500.

The statement from LEN read:

“The Board of European Aquatics (LEN) would like to express our strong support and solidarity with Ukraine’s athletes in these unprecedented times.

“LEN believes in the spirit of sport, which brings nations together in a peaceful way, and strongly condemns all acts of violence. We urge all parties to work quickly on securing a diplomatic resolution to the crisis. LEN will now discuss, in a democratic manner, the best way to support Aquatics in this region.

“In particular, all competitions, including the Women’s Euro League Quarter-final game, scheduled in Russia are postponed to a date and place to be confirmed.

“LEN is working in close contact with representatives of the Ukraine Swimming Federation to ensure they have the necessary support.

“Discussions about how to manage the impact of the crisis on upcoming competitions has been added to the agenda for discussion at the next LEN Bureau meeting.”

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