MOSCOW, July 11. /TASS/. Athletes from Russia and Belarus will not be taking part in the 2023 Summer Universiade, which kicks late this month in China, Olivier van Bogaert, a spokesman for the International University Sports Federation (FISU), told TASS on Tuesday.
A TASS correspondent asked the spokesman whether he understood it correctly that Russia and Belarus had been barred from the 2023 Summer Universiade and Olivier van Bogaert replied "Yes, you do."
According to regulations, the deadline for submitting applications to participate in the upcoming tournament expired on June 28.
The 2023 FISU Summer Universiade was initially scheduled to be hosted by the Russian Urals city of Yekaterinburg. However, on April 29, 2022 the FISU Executive Committee announced a decision to strip Russia of the tournament citing as the reason the country’s special military operation in Ukraine.
The tournament was later relocated to the Chinese city of Chengdu, which is set to host the 2023 FISU Summer Universiade between July 28 and August 8.
The Summer Universiade is an international sporting and cultural festival, which is staged every two years in a different city. The name of the international sports event is a combination of two words, which are ‘University’ and ‘Olympiad.’
It is only second to the Olympic Games. The 2019 Summer Universiade was hosted by Italy’s Naples between July 3 and 14 and in 2019.
After the decision to ban Russia from holding the 2023 FISU Summer Universiade next month the country announced the organization of the 2023 University International Sports Festival next month in Yekaterinburg.
On July 4, Russian President Vladimir Putin invited national teams of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) member states to the 2023 University International Sports Festival in Yekaterinburg.
"Seizing the occasion, I invite national teams of all your countries to the city of Yekaterinburg, which is set to host in August the 2023 University International Sports Festival with the participation of athletes from the SCO as well as BRICS and CIS," Putin said speaking during the online SCO summit on July 4.
The 2023 University International Sports Festival will be hosted by the Russian Urals city of Yekaterinburg between August 19 and 31 with the participation of athletes from the BRICS (an association of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa), SCO and the CIS (the Commonwealth of Independent States). A total of 193 sets of medals are at the stake in 14 sports competitions at the upcoming sports festival.