Fencing: Poland denies visas to Russians, Europeans split

This year's European Fencing Championships, also valid as Olympic qualifications for Paris 2024, will take place in two acts and in as many different venues: the individual competitions in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, from 16 to 18 June, and the team events in Krakow, Poland, as part of the multi-disciplinary European Games with team competitions scheduled for the 28th, 29 and 30 June.
As part of the continental event organized by the European Olympic Committee on Polish soil, of course, the six individual races will also remain in the program, which will be held from 25 to 27 June, but will not offer points for the Olympic Qualification.
The decision was made official today by the European Fencing Confederation, after days of comparisons and reflections, as reported in a note by the Italian fencing federation. "This remodeling of the calendar stems from the fact that the FIE (the International Fencing Federation), in implementation of the IOC recommendations implemented by the Congress by a large majority - explains the statement of the Italian federation -, gives the right to participate, without the flag of their country or team (therefore only to individual competitions), even to athletes of Russian and Belarusian nationality recognized as neutral and not military". "Therefore, faced with the refusal of visas for these shooters by Poland, which hosts the European Games, the FIE has requested and obtained from the EFC (the European Fencing Confederation) the organization of an exclusively individual 'ad hoc' continental competition, valid for the Olympic Qualification, which will take place in Bulgaria, in Plovdiv, on the weekend of 16, 17 and 18 June.