two Belarus The coach allegedly involved in trying to force the sprinter Krystsina Tsimanouskaya to return home has been disqualified and asked to leave the Olympic Village.
This International Olympic Committee The (International Olympic Committee) said on Friday that it had taken action against Artur Schumacher and Yuri Moisevic, saying that they are also facing the IOC disciplinary proceedings that were launched two days ago.
The committee stated that the couple had left the village and “will have the opportunity to express their opinions.”
Tsimanouskaya arrived in Warsaw on Wednesday night after she refused the coach’s so-called instructions to return to her home country. She sought protection from the Japanese police and obtained a humanitarian visa from the Polish authorities.
Now safely in Poland, she recounted her dramatic experience, telling the Belarusian “Do not be afraid And, if they are under pressure, please speak up.” Tsimanouskaya said that after her grandmother told her over the phone that she had been criticized as a traitor on TV and was called a “mental patient”, she decided not to return to Belarus. Criticize her coach.
The case of the 24-year-old athlete may further isolate Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, who was sanctioned by the West after suppressing his opponent last year.
The sprinter caused an uproar on Sunday when she said the coach was angry at her criticism of sports issues and ordered her to pack up and go to the airport before she competed in Tokyo.
She refused to board the plane home and sought police protection at Haneda Airport in Japan, where she used Google Translate to show a request for help to Japanese officials. Then she stayed at the Polish Embassy for two nights, and then flew to Warsaw via Vienna.
The National Olympic Committee of Belarus said at the time that the coaching staff asked Tsimanouskaya to withdraw from the Olympics based on the doctor’s advice on the emotional and psychological state of Tsimanouskaya.
Tsimanouskaya did not rule out the possibility of returning to Belarus in the future, but said on Thursday that she would only go “when it is safe for me.” In an interview with the Associated Press earlier this week, she said that after criticizing Belarusian team officials for failing to conduct doping tests for members of the Belarusian relay team, she felt that she would be punished if she returned to Minsk.
This legendary incident shows how the Belarusian repression makes any criticism of the country’s officials extremely dangerous, even if it is limited to professional issues related to sports.
On Friday, the Belarusian Olympic team in Tokyo could not be immediately reached for comment.
With Reuters
