18.11.2022

Russia and Belarus Against War: Skiers with Russian and Belarusian citizenship competing to help Ukraine

Under certain conditions, Russian and Belarusian nationals will be able to participate in the 56^th Jizerská 50 races. Based on the FIS and Worldloppet decision, a total ban on race participation is in place only for elite Russian and Belarusian skiers with an active FIS code. We want to give recreational skiers from Russia and Belarus who are against Russian aggression against Ukraine a chance to take part in the 56^th ČEZ Jizerská 50. For this reason, we will allow them to participate in the races under the RAW/BAW (Russians/Belarusians against war) flag. We will send their full race fee to the account of the Ukrainian Embassy in the Czech Republic to support of the Ukrainian army.

In line with the position of FIS and the executive board of Worldloppet, the organisers have decided that they will enable Russian and Belarusian citizens who do not agree with Russian aggression in Ukraine to participate in the races. A comprehensive ban on taking part in any of the races is valid only for elite skiers with an active FIS code.

Hobby skiers can register under the RAW/BAW (Russians/Belarusians against war) flag. At the same time all the money collected through registrations under the RAW/BAW flag will be donated to a fund under the auspices of the Ukrainian Embassy in the Czech Republic to support the Ukrainian army. We consider this a sufficient declaration of one’s opposition to Russia’s aggression against Ukraine. At the same time, we’ll avoid the principle of collective guilt. And last but not least, we’ll support Ukraine’s fight for its freedom, since freedom is one of the essential values Jizerská 50 stands for.

It is easy to register under the RAW/BAW flag. When paying your race fee in the SportID system, you can choose the “Russians/Belarusians against war” option in the “Citizenship” box.

The president of the Worldloppet series Epp Paal has spoken about the long process of FIS decision-making: “We’re sorry that the process took so long, but we wanted to make sure that the decisions are not inconsistent with the FIS standpoint and also with the values of Worldloppet.”