MOSCOW, October 18. /TASS/. A Russian national team will be represented by 17 judokas at the 2023 European Judo Championship next month in France, the press office of the International Judo Federation (IJF) said in a statement on Wednesday.

On the men’s side, the Russian national team will be represented by Ramazan Abulayev (under-60 kg weight category), Gamzat Zairbekov (under-60 kg), Yago Abuladze, Murad Cholanov (both in the under-66 kg category), Danil Lavrentyev (under-73 kg), Timur Arbuzov (under-81 kg), Mansur Lorsanov (under-90 kg), Matvei Kanikovsky (under-100 kg) and Valery Yendovitsky (over-100 kg).

Russia’s judo women will be represented by 2020 Tokyo Olympics bronze medalist Madina Taimazova (under-70 kg), Sabina Gilyazova, Kristina Dudina (both under-48 kg), Alesya Kuznetsova (under-52 kg), Daria Kurbonmamadova, Kseniya Galitskaya (both in the under-57 kg category), Kamila Badurova (under-63 kg) and Daria Khramoikina (under-70 kg).

The 2023 European Judo Championships are scheduled to be held at the Sud de France Arena in the French city of Montpellier between November 3 and 5 bringing together judokas from 46 countries.

Due to the current international sanctions against Russian athletes, judokas from Russia will be participating in the upcoming tournament under the flag of the International Judo Federation (IJF) instead of their country’s national flag.

IOC sanctions against Russia

On February 28, 2022, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) issued recommendations to international sports federations to bar athletes from Russia and Belarus from taking part in international tournaments, citing Moscow’s special military operation in Ukraine as the reason.

Following the IOC’s recommendations in late February 2022, the majority of global sports federations decided to bar athletes from Russia and Belarus from all international sports tournaments.

In late March, 2023, the IOC recommended to permit individual athletes from Russia and Belarus to take part in international sports tournaments, but only under certain conditions. Specifically, athletes from the two countries should not be "actively supporting" Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine and must compete under a neutral status. Russia and Belarus were also banned from participating in international team events.