Sports lawyer and lawyer Ilya Skoropashkin commented on the decision of the Ministry of Youth and Sports to ban the national teams of Ukraine from participating in tournaments in which Russians and Belarusians are represented.
Ilya Skoropashkin— How do you assess the Order of the Ministry of Youth and Sports of Ukraine on the ban on the national teams of Ukraine from participating in international sports competitions in which athletes from Russia and Belarus take part?
- It is clear that the Ministry of Youth and Sports is fulfilling the protocol order of the Cabinet of Ministers, according to which it was only to work out the issue of depriving the status of national federations whose athletes, being members of these federations (!), participate in competitions along with athletes from 404 countries.
But! Not all athletes are members of their federations. On the contrary, most athletes are not. Ask, for example, Pavelko, which of the main team's collections is a member of the UAF, not to mention the youth teams? (The UAF provides for membership of only legal entities - ed.)
— Has this order already taken effect or have not all procedures been completed?
— It has not entered into force. Article 117 of the Constitution of Ukraine stipulates that the normative legal acts of ministries are subject to state registration in the manner prescribed by law.
According to the current legislation, the order of the Ministry of Youth and Sports must be registered by the Ministry of Justice. The Ministry of Justice has 15 days to verify the compliance of the order with the Constitution of Ukraine, the laws of Ukraine and other legislative acts. Plus 10 days if it is necessary to analyze it with the involvement of experts and study a significant number of acts of the current legislation.
After verification, the Ministry of Justice may register the order, return it with recommendations for improvement, or refuse registration. If the order is registered, then it enters into force 10 days after such registration by the Ministry of Justice.
— If we assume that all this bureaucracy will be successfully passed, can the UAF somehow appeal against it?
- There is such an opportunity, the Order can be appealed by interested parties (for example, sports federations) in court during the entire period of its validity. The action of the order may be suspended by the court, in particular, in order to secure a claim.
— In your opinion, does this order, in its content and in such a wording, comply with the legislation of Ukraine?
- It contains contradictions with the Law of Ukraine "On Physical Culture and Sports", according to which the Ministry of Youth and Sports must ensure the participation of our athletes in international competitions included in the Unified Calendar Plan. And according to this order, it turns out that the Ministry of Youth and Sports does not provide and does not contribute, but even prohibits participation in international competitions, the list of which is not defined at the moment and depends on the future composition of the participants in such competitions.
— Are there any controversial points in it? For example, something can be interpreted in two ways?
- It is not clear from the order what "athletes from the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus" means. According to the decision of the IOC, athletes from 404 countries can compete under a neutral flag, without mentioning the country they represent. Will they be considered athletes on the Prohibited List in this case?
In addition, there are other situations, such as athletes with dual citizenship, who may have an unacceptable political position, or those who have previously changed citizenship. Or what about the distribution into women's and men's teams, or into weight categories?
It turns out that if at least one athlete from 404 countries participates in the Olympics, we ourselves have banned representation in any of the sports? What about training camps, is it worth holding them at all if it is known that athletes from Russia and Belarus will take part in the next competitions?
Under such conditions, I believe that the Ministry of Youth and Sports did not actually fulfill the instructions of the Cabinet of Ministers and did not perfectly work out the issue posed to it, which will generate even more questions and complaints about it in the future.
Andrey Shevchenko
