Organizers of the Eurovision Track Contest reversed course on Friday, asserting that Russia would now not be permitted to carry out on this yr’s occasion.
“The choice displays concern that, in gentle of the unprecedented disaster in Ukraine, the inclusion of a Russian entry on this yr’s Contest would convey the competitors into disrepute,” the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) stated in an announcement.
The choice to punish Russia culturally for invading Ukraine comes a day after the identical group had stated Moscow could be allowed to ship an act to seem on the subsequent Eurovision, scheduled to be held in Turin, Italy, in Could.
Ukraine’s public broadcasting firm had requested for Russia to be suspended from the favored contest, which is watched by virtually 200 million folks annually.
However the EBU, which has organized the competition since 1956, had insisted Eurovision was “a non-political cultural occasion.”
In response, various different European international locations had indicated they might not take part on this yr’s occasion except Russia was banned.
Russia was but to formally announce an act for this yr’s competitors. Because the assault on Ukraine, hundreds of Russians have braved the chance of being arrested to protest in opposition to their authorities’s lethal invasion.
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