Darek Delmanowicz/PAP

Poland, Ukraine and the Baltic states have boycotted the European Volleyball Confederation (CEV)’s annual General Assembly, held in Brussels on Saturday, due to the presence of Russian and Belarusian delegates, the Polish Volleyball Federation (PZPS) announced on X.

The PZPS president told the Wirtualna Polska website that the organisation objected to the presence of Russians and Belarusians at the event as their national teams and all their clubs are barred from competitions. 

“In line with the statute, those who are not active should not be at the event,” Sebastian Swiderski said, going on to point out that the Russian and Belarusian delegates had taken part in voting on important matters.

The CEV website made no mention of the boycott.

In March, the Executive Committee of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) ruled that Russian and Belarusian sportspeople could only compete as neutral athletes and could not compete in team events.

At its June sitting, the Executive Committee of the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) officially upheld the IOC’s ruling.