Ihor Surkis: "Harlan's behaviour is an example for our athletes of what to do when you have a Russian representative around"

At the World Fencing Championships, Olga Harlan, the pride of Ukraine, demonstrated a principled patriotic stance, which resulted in her losing the opportunity to compete for victory in the tournament.

After a spectacular victory over Russian Anna Smirnova, who was competing as a representative of an imaginary country, Olga refused to shake hands with her opponent. The same opponent who actually represented the aggressor country that came to our land and killed Ukrainians.

The International Fencing Federation disqualified our athlete, which caused a storm of anger in Ukraine. Our club immediately supported Olga on social media, but we want to emphasise once again that Dynamo players fully support the star of Ukrainian sports Olga Harlan and her actions.

"The behaviour of sports officials is shameful and cowardly. Harlan's behaviour is an example for our athletes of what to do when a Russian representative is around. This is not just some kind of media occasion to remind the world of the war in Ukraine and the atrocities committed by the occupiers, but another test for the search for truth and justice.

The disqualification of Olga Harlan demonstrates the double standards that still exist, but the reaction of our society, representatives of the sports community and the authorities gives us hope that in the future Ukrainian athletes will be protected from such arbitrariness. On behalf of our club and myself, I thank Olga for this act and her patriotic stance," said Ihor Surkis, President of FC Dynamo Kyiv.