Minsk not satisfied with hockey incident explanation

Belarus national hockey team, their doctor and coaches were detained at a railways station in Paris and searched. The scandal has not been settled so far. The incident occurred on May 3. Belarus national team was heading from Bordeaux to Paris to take part in the world championship. The Belarsuain MFA demanded that France explained the incident and apologized. The French Ambassador was summoned to the Ministry. However, the information that appeared on the website of the French Embassy on May 5 is a vague explanation of the reason for the search mentioning ‘the struggle against doping in big-time sport’ and a note that the initiative belonged to Paris Public Prosecutor’s Office. France has not apologized.

Belarus is not satisfied with the explanation, MFA press sectary Dzmitry Mironchyk told BELTA. “The note is a formal runaround that cannot justify the French authorities’ actions,” Mironchyk said. The attitude of France to Belarus national team and to the official protest of the Belarusian MFA ‘can be called contemptuous and selective.' 

Minsk does not think that the incident is over and is expecting France to apologize ‘for the inadmissible treatment of the Belarusian sportsmen.”