12:07 16.01.2016

No politics behind Ukrainian biathletes' decision not to go to Russia's Tyumen – federation president

2 min read
No politics behind Ukrainian biathletes' decision not to go to Russia's Tyumen – federation president

The Ukrainian national biathlon team's decision not to go to Russia's Tyumen to take part in a European championship is unrelated to politics, Ukrainian Biathlon Federation President Volodymyr Brynzak said.

"We will always be happy to take part in various competitions and training camps in Russia in future, and participation in the World Cup Final in Khanty-Mansiysk in March is in our short-term plans," the Federation's press service quoted Brynzak as saying.

He insisted that Ukrainian biathletes maintain friendly relations with the Russian team and Russian fans.

"Sport is beyond politics, we are not going to boycott anything, and we call on all journalists to report only facts rather than their speculations and conjectures," Brynzak said.

He stressed that he had never said of any political motives or provocations.

"These are just the journalist's fabrications, and this has happened not for the first time. By doing this, they want to make some fuss and arouse interest in their unsolicited work. I want to officially tell everyone that these are the journalist's lies and fantasies," he said.

Brynzak cited an inconvenient schedule of the Tyumen event, which is slated for February 21-29, 2016, as the Ukrainian biathletes had been training for the world championship as their priority competition.

What is more, he said, it is not easy to get to Tyumen due to logistics problems.

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