https://bssf.team +37064527864 [email protected]

Mr. James Macleod Director of NOC Relations Department International Olympic Committee

Château de Vidy 1007, Lausanne, Switzerland

November 26, 2020

Dear Mr. Macleod,

Following your letter dated 19 November 2020 let us thank you for monitoring the situation within the sporting community in and being ready to take actions against violation of athletes’ rights in our country. We highly appreciate that the IOC Executive Board decided during the meeting on 25 November 2020 to start a formal procedure against the National Olympic Committee of the Republic of Belarus (NOC Belarus) in view of its violations of the Olympic Charter and discrimination of athletes. The Belarusian Sport Solidarity Foundation is ready to assist arranging Zoom calls with top-level Belarusian athletes who have personally faced the discrimination. Please let us know the date and time that suits you best. Moreover, in order to assist you with the formal procedure, we have collected materials on the violation of athletes’ rights especially of those preparing for the Olympic Games and the factual and legal background of the NOC Belarus violations of the Olympic Charter.

The Belarusian Sport Solidarity Foundation have prepared for you a request on determination of the Olympic Charter violation by the NOC Belarus (Request), the legal reasoning of which is that the NOC Belarus discredited Olympism with its reluctance to react on the cases of athletes’ rights infringements. Thus, the NOC Belarus severely violated the Olympic Charter regarding the principle of non-discrimination and athletes’ rights adherence and principle of good governance. Since the presidential election in Belarus the representatives of Belarusian sports community have condemned severe breaches of law committed by the Belarusian authorities. More than 1200 athletes and representatives of Belarusian sports community have signed an open public appeal to Belarusian authorities demanding to stop the violations, including severe violence, and to restitute the violated rights. Consequently, authorities have been punishing stated representatives for expressing their civic stance. The Belarusian sports authorities have deprived six top-level athletes who already qualified or are close to qualification for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games of any sports training facilities. Some of these athletes were excluded from the relevant national teams. The Request gives the description in details for violations against: ▪ Volha Mazuronak, Olympian, 2018 European champion in athletics, 5th place at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, 5th place at the 2019 IAAF Championships, qualified for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games; ▪ Andrei Krauchanka, Olympian, silver medalist in athletics of the 2008 Olympic Games, two times silver medalist of the World Athletics Championships, European champion; ▪ Darya Barysevich, silver medalist of the 2017 IAAF World Athletics Championships, silver medalist of the II European Games, qualified for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games; ▪ Sviatlana Kudzelich, two times Olympian, silver medalist of the 2015 European Athletics Indoor Championships in the women’s 3000m; ▪ Dzmitry Shershan, Olympian, two-time medalist of the European Judo Championships, multiple winner and medalist of the Grand Prix series tournaments, Grand Slam winner, world ranked 3 in 2015; ▪ Aliaksandr Vakhaviak, multiple medalist of the World Cup, Gran Prix and other international judo tournaments; medalist of the world and European championships in sambo. Unfortunately, the list of repressed athletes is much larger. We will continue collecting information and materials on athletes’ rights violations and keep you up to date on the situation in Belarusian sports. 2

The Belarusian Sport Solidarity Foundation is ready to provide you with any details regarding the Request or other helpful information required. We also take this opportunity to reaffirm that we share your concerns regarding the allegations made against Mr. Dmitry Baskov. We plan to submit to you correspondent materials afterwards. If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact us via phone or via email.

Enclosure: 1. The Request to the International Olympic Committee on determination of the Olympic Charter violation by the National Olympic Committee of the Republic of Belarus. 2. Cases of arrest, pressure and dismissal regarding athletes and sports specialists in Belarus.

Yours sincerely,

Aliaksandra Herasimenia OLY Chairwoman of the Belarusian Sport Solidarity Foundation

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