"We are compelled to accept the decision of the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation in regards to moving the world championships from Russia to another country. As matters currently stand the IBSF faced possible split in the sport community and wide-scale boycott of the competition. Under the current circumstances there are no right or wrong decisions and our colleagues had to choose the lesser of the evils," the statement reads.
Earlier in the day, the IBSF announced its decision to move the championship, which was expected to take place in Sochi on February 13-26, 2017, to another location.
On Sunday, Latvia's national skeleton team announced its intention to boycott the upcoming championships in Sochi over fresh doping allegations in the second part of the World Anti-Doping Agency's (WADA) McLaren report. South Korean skeleton racers have also joined the boycott.
In July, the WADA commission presented the first part of the report based on the investigation, in which Russia was accused of running a state-wide doping program, recommending the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to consider a blanket ban on the entire Russian team. The IOC instead let individual sports federations decide on the matter. WADA introduced the second part of the report, revealing manipulations by athletes in 30 sporting disciplines, on December 9.
As a result, the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) banned the Russian athletes from taking part in international competitions including the 2016 Summer Olympics. The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) later banned all Russian Paralympic athletes from the 2016 Summer Paralympics and the 2018 Winter Games.
