OREANDA-NEWS  The Finnish national team refused to participate in the World Team Championship in aesthetic gymnastics due to the participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes in competitions. This was reported by the press service of the Finnish Gymnastics Federation.

It is reported that the same decision was made by the Estonian national team.

"In the board of Directors of the International Federation of Aesthetic Group Gymnastics (IFAGG), our position and our opinion that Russians and Belarusians should not participate in competitions, unfortunately, remains in the minority," said the chairman of the Finnish Gymnastics Federation Kaisa Vikkula. - In this situation, we had no choice but to refuse to participate in the tournament. The situation is very unfortunate for our athletes who have been training and preparing for the World Cup all year."

The Aesthetic Gymnastics World Championship will be held from November 24 to 26 in Alma-Ata. At the last championship in Graz, Austria, the Finns won the largest number of gold medals - three. Four sets of awards were played at the tournament. The Russian national team did not take part in the competition. In 2021, the championship was held in Helsinki, the national teams of Russia and Finland shared the first place in the overall standings of the tournament, winning two gold, two silver and one bronze awards