State Duma deputy Svetlana Zhurova commented on Latvia’s decision to suspend licenses for athletes who competed at the Future Games. In her opinion, such a measure is due solely to political, and not sporting, motives.
Unfortunately, this is a clear policy, and the question is: where, exactly, is sport here? Apparently, by Latvian standards, freedom and democracy look exactly like this,” RT quotes Zhurova as saying.
On February 23, it became known that the Latvian Hockey Federation suspended the licenses of the Baltic Select team players taking part in the Future Games in Kazan. Later, the Estonian Hockey Federation took the same measure.
On February 1, the Latvian Seimas adopted amendments to the sports law. According to its updated version, representatives of the country are prohibited from competing with athletes from Russia and Belarus, even in a neutral status. Restrictions also apply to children’s and youth tournaments.
The opening ceremony of the Future Games took place on Wednesday, February 21.