In France, baseball is starting to feel the first consequences of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. Some players have already said they knew Ukrainian players they could help.
As for European bodies, here is their statement:
The World Baseball and Softball Confederation Europe (WBSC Europe) continues to stand with Ukraine, the Ukrainian people, and the baseball/softball family in Ukraine in the face of the ongoing illegal invasion of Ukrainian territory by Russia, which began on February 24, 2022.
On February 28, the executive commission of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) published the following resolution: “In order to protect the integrity of global sporting competitions and for the safety of all participants, the IOC recommends that international sports federations and event organizers not invite or allow the participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes and officials in international competitions.
This statement follows a previous resolution in which the IOC urged all international federations to move or cancel any of their events scheduled in Russia or Belarus in 2022.
*The WBSC Europe had already decided to move the competitions that were to be held in Russia in 2022 and will now go further to support the IOC by excluding Russian and Belarusian teams from all its competitions for national and club teams that will take place in Europe this year. This action is supported by the WBSC, which has issued a press release indicating its support and assistance with this measure.
*The WBSC Europe fully supports the Olympic Movement in its mission to contribute to peace through sport and to unite the world in peaceful competition beyond all political differences, and welcomes the IOC’s strong measures against Russia’s extremely serious violation of the Olympic Truce and international law.
Regarding the European tournament that will take place in Rouen and Montigny from June 8 to 12, the consequence of this decision is that among the qualified teams was the Belarusian club from Minsk. (This would have been their 4th participation in the European Cup)
This last team is therefore excluded from the competition. It was planned that they would play in Pool A with Rouen, Vienna, and Antwerp. Pool B remains unchanged with Montpellier, Tenerife, Therwil, and Karlovac.
