Russian and Belarusian gymnasts are deprived of the opportunity to participate in the European Championship

On March 21, the draw for the European Gymnastics Championship, which will be held in Turkey, took place. Gymnasts from Russia and Belarus were not allowed to join it, which excludes their further participation in the competition. This was announced by the senior coach of the Russian national team Valentina Rodionenko.

"We realized a long time ago that we would not be able to compete at the European Championship, so the draw that took place without us did not come as a surprise. Let's hope that we will be given the opportunity to take part in the June Asian Championship in Singapore, which will be the only chance to qualify for the very important World Championship for us", - Rodionenko said in an interview with TASS.

The European Gymnastics Championships will be held from April 11 to 16 in Antalya (Turkey). Athletes from 39 countries will take part in it. The European Championship is also the qualifying start of the world Championship, which will be held this fall in Antwerp, Belgium. Russian and Belarusian gymnasts still have a theoretical opportunity to get to the competitions in Belgium if the International Gymnastics Federation allows them to participate in Asian tournaments. In particular, at the moment there is a possibility of participation of Russians and Belarusians in the tournament in Singapore, which will be held from June 15 to 18.