VENICE – It is the afternoon of Sunday 28 April on the outskirts of Salizzole, less than three thousand inhabitants in the Lower Veronese area. Foreign music resonates in the air: “Rossiya… our sacred country, Rossija… our beloved land”. It is the homage to Russian Viktor Bugaenkowho with the shirt of the Spanish team Pc Baix Ebre has just won the eightieth edition of the Vicenza-Bionde, a classic cycling race for Under 23s. «The sprinters were expected», commented the Federciclismo the following day. Instead, Ukraine did not imagine, as stated in the letter sent on May 2nd to the FCI itself (as well as to the IOC), that “the national anthem of the aggressor country” would be “played openly during the awards ceremony”, to the point that “an investigation into the accident” is requested.
THE RULES
The protest letter is signed by Vadym Huttsait (president of the Ukrainian Olympic Committee), Matvii Bidnyi (Minister of Youth and Sports) and Andriy Hrivko (number one of the National Cycling Federation). «The organizers have seriously violated the recommendations of the IOC», is the accusation made by Kiev to Us Bionde. From a sporting event, to an international case, to a political controversy, it takes a moment. The region Veneto Stephen Valdegamberi, regional councilor known for his pro-Russian positions, sides with the promoters: «Now they will be punished when instead they should be rewarded, because they had the courage to overcome rules that are clearly discriminatory». Filippo Scipioni, president of the Veronese club, assures: «For us sport is union, celebration and sharing. For three years, a Ukrainian team has always been present at the start, just as we have never closed the doors to teams that include Russian athletes.”
On 1 March 2022, the International Cycling Union thus declined the hard line adopted by the IOC (Russian and Belarusian athletes admitted with neutral status cannot display national symbols): «The appearance of all emblems, names, acronyms, flags and anthems linked to Russia and Belarus are prohibited in all events on the UCI international calendar.” Five days later, the FCI announced its decision: «A minute of silence on the occasion of all the demonstrations that will take place in Italy until the end of the war itself». Nothing else, Scipioni reiterates: «For an amateur event included in the national calendar like ours, I understand that there are no rules that prohibit the playing of the Russian anthem in the event of victory of athletes from this nation or, if there are , were never communicated to us.”
