Kiri

To the kind attention of:

Ministers responsible for Sport of

European countries

Presidents of the European National

Olympic Committees

Dear Ministers,

Dear Presidents,

First of all, we would like to express our sincere gratitude for your unwavering support

of Ukraine, the Ukrainian people, and Ukrainian sport community during these

exceptionally challenging times in our nation’s history. Your solidarity gives us

strength and once again reaffirms Europe’s unity in defending the fundamental values

of peace, democracy, and human rights.

For the fourth year, Europe is witnessing the bloodiest war on the continent in the last

75 years, started and relentlessly continued by the Russian Federation with the support

of Belarus.

Unfortunately, Russia’s full-scale aggression against Ukraine continues to inflict

devastating consequences on every aspect of life, including sport. Hundreds of

Ukrainian athletes have been killed while defending their country, and more than 700

sports facilities have been destroyed or severely damaged by Russian strikes. These are

irretrievable losses, serving as a painful reminder that Ukrainian sport is paying a heavy

price for peace and freedom.

In this context, we would like to express our deep concern about the inclusion of citizens

of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus to the list of candidates for the

elections to the governing bodies of the European Gymnastics at the upcoming Assembly

in November this year, namely: Marat Filippov, representing the Gymnastics

Federation of Russia, and Andrey Fedarau, representing the Gymnastics Association of

Belarus.

29 September 2025

# 555-НК/10314/10

M

r

J

e

a

n

-

C

h

r

i

s

t

o

p

h

e

R

o

l

l

a

n

d

P

r

e

s

i

d

e

n

t

Marat Filippov is the Secretary of the Council under the President of the Russian

Federation on the development of physical culture and sport and Vice-President of the

Russian Olympic Committee. He took part in the ceremony of awarding the Russian

military with the «Heroes of Our Time» sports award in 2025, with a congratulatory

speech from dictator Putin

(https://x.com/ukrsportbase/status/1971250182185791747?s=46).

On October, 12, 2023, the IOC Executive Board decided to suspend Russian Olympic

Committee – where Marat Filippov serves as the Vice-president – with immediate effect

(https://www.olympics.com/ioc/news/ioc-executive-board-suspends-russian-olympic-

committee-with-immediate-effect), due to unilateral decision taken by the ROC to

include, as its members, the regional sports organisations which are under the authority

of the National Olympic Committee (NOC) of Ukraine (namely Donetsk, Kherson,

Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia).

It is evident that the aggressor states continue to use sport as a propaganda tool to

legitimize their unjustified war and manipulate international opinion. The participation

of representatives of aggressor states in the governing bodies of international sports

federations during wartime is an ignorance of the moral and ethical principles of sport

and the Olympic Charter.

In this regard, we would like to ask you to urge the national gymnastics federations of

your countries to pay attention to these candidates and support Ukraine’s position that

it is unacceptable to support the candidates from Russia and Belarus in these elections.

Such support would mean ignoring the suffering of Ukrainian athletes and at the same

time undermine the foundations of integrity and fairness in sport.

We rely on your solidarity and strong position and believe that together we can preserve

the values that unite us and protect sport from being used as an aggression tool.

Sincerely,

Matvii BIDNYI

Minister of Youth and Sports of Ukraine

Vadym GUTTSAIT

President of the NOC of Ukraine

To the kind attention of:

Ministers responsible for Sport of

European countries

Presidents of the European National

Olympic Committees

Dear Ministers,

Dear Presidents,

First of all, we would like to express our sincere gratitude for your unwavering support

of Ukraine, the Ukrainian people, and Ukrainian sport community during these

exceptionally challenging times in our nation’s history. Your solidarity gives us

strength and once again reaffirms Europe’s unity in defending the fundamental values

of peace, democracy, and human rights.

For the fourth year, Europe is witnessing the bloodiest war on the continent in the last

75 years, started and relentlessly continued by the Russian Federation with the support

of Belarus.

Unfortunately, Russia’s full-scale aggression against Ukraine continues to inflict

devastating consequences on every aspect of life, including sport. Hundreds of

Ukrainian athletes have been killed while defending their country, and more than 700

sports facilities have been destroyed or severely damaged by Russian strikes. These are

irretrievable losses, serving as a painful reminder that Ukrainian sport is paying a heavy

price for peace and freedom.

In this context, we would like to express our deep concern about the inclusion of citizens

of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus to the list of candidates for the

elections to the governing bodies of the European Gymnastics at the upcoming Assembly

in November this year, namely: Marat Filippov, representing the Gymnastics

Federation of Russia, and Andrey Fedarau, representing the Gymnastics Association of

Belarus.

29 September 2025

# 555-НК/10314/10

M

r

J

e

a

n

-

C

h

r

i

s

t

o

p

h

e

R

o

l

l

a

n

d

P

r

e

s

i

d

e

n

t

Marat Filippov is the Secretary of the Council under the President of the Russian

Federation on the development of physical culture and sport and Vice-President of the

Russian Olympic Committee. He took part in the ceremony of awarding the Russian

military with the «Heroes of Our Time» sports award in 2025, with a congratulatory

speech from dictator Putin

(https://x.com/ukrsportbase/status/1971250182185791747?s=46).

On October, 12, 2023, the IOC Executive Board decided to suspend Russian Olympic

Committee – where Marat Filippov serves as the Vice-president – with immediate effect

(https://www.olympics.com/ioc/news/ioc-executive-board-suspends-russian-olympic-

committee-with-immediate-effect), due to unilateral decision taken by the ROC to

include, as its members, the regional sports organisations which are under the authority

of the National Olympic Committee (NOC) of Ukraine (namely Donetsk, Kherson,

Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia).

It is evident that the aggressor states continue to use sport as a propaganda tool to

legitimize their unjustified war and manipulate international opinion. The participation

of representatives of aggressor states in the governing bodies of international sports

federations during wartime is an ignorance of the moral and ethical principles of sport

and the Olympic Charter.

In this regard, we would like to ask you to urge the national gymnastics federations of

your countries to pay attention to these candidates and support Ukraine’s position that

it is unacceptable to support the candidates from Russia and Belarus in these elections.

Such support would mean ignoring the suffering of Ukrainian athletes and at the same

time undermine the foundations of integrity and fairness in sport.

We rely on your solidarity and strong position and believe that together we can preserve

the values that unite us and protect sport from being used as an aggression tool.

Sincerely,

Matvii BIDNYI

Minister of Youth and Sports of Ukraine

Vadym GUTTSAIT

President of the NOC of Ukraine