You're reading: Ukraine boycotts World Cup Biathlon Final in Russia

Ukrainian Youth and Sports Minister Ihor Zhdanov has announced that Ukraine will boycott the World Cup Biathlon Final, which is to be held by the International Biathlon Union in Tyumen, Russia, on March 20-25.

Zhdanov announced the decision on Facebook on March 13.

“It’s about an aggressor country that systematically ignores international law, including the ones on the sports field – it does not adhere to anti-doping rules,” Zhadonov’s post on Facebook reads.

The minister said that he had met President of the Biathlon Federation of Ukraine Volodymyr Brynzak on March 13 to discuss the matter.

“A joint decision was made,” Zhdanov said in his Facebook post.

The Biathlon Federation’s press service could not immediately comment on the issue, however, it confirmed to the Kyiv Post on March 13 that the decision to boycott the event had been taken jointly.

Ukraine is not the first nation to announce it is boycotting the cup: The U.S. Biathlon Team said on Feb. 23 that it would not to participate in the IBU World Cup Biathlon Final in Russia.

“In support of clean sport and our own physical safety, we cannot in good conscience participate,” the statement reads.

Earlier, the Biathlon Canada federation also announced their athletes would not attend the cup final in Russia.

“Biathlon Canada is of the position the Russian Federation should not be permitted to host events at present,” the federation’s statement on their website reads.

After conducting an investigation, an International Olympic Committee commission discovered Russia had systematically manipulated the doping control process, and that Russian athletes had benefited from the cheating for years.

The organization stripped Russia of 13 medals, and 43 Russian athletes were disqualified from competition in the 2018 Winter Olympics held on Feb. 9-25 in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

The Russian Olympic Committee was also suspended from the competition. Other Russian athletes were allowed to participate in the sporting events as “Olympic Athletes from Russia” (OAR) under a neutral flag, and with the Olympic anthem played at medals ceremonies.