International School Sport Federation releases statement on war in Ukraine

The International School Sport Federation’s (ISF) Executive Committee has condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and has taken the measure of suspending the membership rights of the Russian Federation and Belarus until further notice.

This action by the ISF means several things: the Russian Federation and Belarus will not be allowed to participate in any ISF events until further notice, the hosting rights of the 20th ISF Gymnasiade 2024 have been pulled from Yekaterinburg, Russia, and the Russian Federation and Belarus cannot attend, participate or vote in the ISF General Assembly and Executive Committee meetings.

In statement the ISF said, “the war in Ukraine goes against all goals and aims of the ISF which convey the values of peace, friendship, solidarity, and the promotion of education through sport for empowering school students in becoming tomorrow’s leaders based on the sport and Olympic values of friendship, fair-play, tolerance and understanding.”

The ISF Executive Committee said they have shown their solidarity and support for the Ukrainian population and will monitor the situation with the Ukrainian Federation of School Sport.

The statement also says, “the ISF calls for the immediate ceasing of war and invasion of Ukraine, and for their members to demonstrate solidarity with Ukrainian colleagues, teachers and students, and to be aligned with the decisions of the International Olympic Committee.”