Ukrainian athletes who competed in a fencing championship in China over the weekend said they were stopped from posing with an anti-war banner in the latest example of the tension between sport and politics amid Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
A 40-second video posted to Instagram on Sunday by European fencing champion Vlada Kharkova appeared to show a fracas involving Chinese staff members and members of Ukraine’s national fencing team, who were trying to unfurl a banner displaying photographs of Ukrainian athletes killed in the war. The banner is known as the “Angels of Sport.”
The International Fencing Federation, or FIE, earlier in March allowed Russian and Belarusian athletes to return to the sport under the International Olympic Committee’s neutral framework. IOC President Thomas Bach argued last week that the Olympic ruling body can’t referee political disputes.
In the social media clip shared by Kharkova, 26, and re-posted by teammate Darya Varfolomeyeva, 23, staff in China‘s eastern city of Nanjing were seen intervening as the fencers attempted to take a picture with the memorial banner. An unidentified athlete asked: “Why not?”
In the cellphone video, a staff member was heard repeatedly saying “no,” before telling one of his colleagues in Mandarin: “Roll it up.”
“Sorry, sorry, sorry. It’s our job. Please understand,” said another Chinese staff member in English while approaching the person filming.
“Today at World Cup in China we wanted to take a picture with a banner where we showed how many athletes were killed by Russia,” Kharkova wrote in her Instagram post, in which she said she and her teammates were stopped by the organizers and the FIE.
“[FIE] you mentioned that politics had no place in sport. Now, let me ask you this: how can sport not be involved when about 343 sport facilities being destroyed and more than 250 athletes will never compete again?” she said.
“Ruzzia is violated all values of Olympism. [FIE] is trying to hide truth through threats, restrictions and keeping us mute, but how is this different from Russian political strategy?” asked Kharkova.
It wasn’t immediately clear whether the incident in the video footage took place at the competition venue or elsewhere.
Newsweek contacted Kharkova and the FIE by email seeking comment but did not hear back from either before publication.
The Instagram accounts of Kharkova and Varfolomeyeva were set to private on Monday.
On the social media app, users including Chinese commenters, expressed sympathy for the Ukrainian fencers and criticized China and the FIE.
“I support you,” one wrote in Chinese. “I’m very sorry to see such an incident happen in this country.”
“As a Nanjing native, I’m ashamed of my city. My apologies to you! I support Ukraine,” another said in a message in Chinese that included emojis of the Ukrainian flag.
A third added in Chinese: “As a Chinese person, I say sorry to you on my own behalf. I also don’t understand my government.”
Kharkova’s video also was widely seen on the r/Ukraine subreddit, where it had over 13,000 upvotes at the time of writing.
Nanjing hosted the women’s epee world cup with the individual contest concluding Saturday and the team final ending Sunday. Hungary’s Anna Kun, 37, won gold in the women’s individual epee, while France claimed the team prize.
Kharkova, a right-handed epee fencer who won last year’s individual European final in Turkey, was one of five Ukrainian athletes competing in China.
The IOC has condemned the invasion of Ukraine and restricted Russia and Belarus from taking part in international competitions. In January, however, the governing body recommended a pathway for the readmission of individual athletes from both countries under its neutrality framework, which prohibits the use of their flags, anthems or other national symbols.
Earlier this month, fencing became the first Olympic sport to reverse the year-long exclusion of Russian and Belarusian athletes following a FIE vote, which made possible their qualification for the 2024 Summer Games in Paris.
Ukrainian athletes who competed in a fencing championship in China over the weekend said they were stopped from posing with an anti-war banner in the latest example of the tension between sport and politics amid Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
