The National Platform of Sports Integrity, established in Ukraine for the implementation of the Council of Europe Convention on the Manipulation of Sports Competitions and composed of representatives of sports movement organizations, government agencies, and other stakeholders, expresses concerns about the situation surrounding the participation of Ukrainian athlete Olga Kharlan in the 2023 World Fencing Championships.
We believe that the actions of individuals and bodies of the International Fencing Federation bear signs of manipulating the results of sports competitions.
The National Platform of Sports Integrity draws attention to the fact that the decision of the FIE Technical Directorate to punish Olga Harlan was made with a number of procedural violations. Thus, the issue of "lack of respect", which became the basis for the complaint, lies solely within the competence of the judge, who did not record any violations in the actions of the Ukrainian fencer at the time of its completion. Moreover, this issue does not fall within the jurisdiction of the competition technical directorate in accordance with the FIE rules.
In addition, it is unacceptable that the competition rules regarding the need for handshakes were changed not in a transparent way, just before the competition, without informing the national federation and publishing them on the FIE official website.
Let us remind, that manipulating an event is one of violations of the Olympic Movement Code on the Prevention of the Manipulation of Competitions, which is fully aligned with the Macolin Convention and serves as the primary regulatory tool for the entire Olympic Movement.
The National Platform of Sports Integrity has appealed to the International Fencing Federation and the International Olympic Committee to pay attention to this case and reconsider the decision on the Ukrainian athlete, which calls into question the international federation's commitment to preserving integrity in world fencing.