The Adjudicatory Physique of the Aquatics Integrity Unit (AQIU) has introduced the suspension of the Italian Males’s Water Polo Staff from competitors for a interval of 6 months for violating Article 5 of the World Aquatics Integrity Code.
The total textual content of Article 5, titled “Duties of Good Conduct” could be discovered beneath. This text, specifically, dictates that in competitors, athletes should act with respect in the direction of teammates, opponents, and officers. In accordance with the World Aquatics/AQIU press launch, the violations occurred on the 2024 Paris Olympic Video games following the crew’s quarterfinal match towards Hungary on August 7, 2024, and through the classification match towards Spain on August 8, 2024.
Throughout the match towards Hungary, the Italian participant Francesco Condemi was ejected from the sport after he struck Hungarian opponent Szilard Jansik whereas scoring a purpose. Along with the ejection, Condemi’s purpose was invalidated by officers following a video assessment, and the Italian crew was pressured to play the rest of the match man-down, with solely 4 gamers within the discipline. Hungary in the end received the sport in a shoot-out, with Italian coaches instantly issuing a protest of the officiating through the sport, gamers additionally verbally chastised the officers following the match.
Following that incident, the gamers then turned their backs on the officers through the nationwide anthem throughout their subsequent sport towards Spain in protest of the earlier calls. The crew additionally reportedly failed to have interaction in a number of pre-game protocols through the match towards Spain as a part of their protest.
On the Paris 2024 Olympic Video games, Italy completed in seventh place after being knocked-out of the event in a shootout loss to Hungary through the quarter-finals. Earlier within the yr, the crew received a silver medal on the 2024 World Championships.
Because of the suspension, the Italian crew shall be barred from taking part in any World Aquatics-sponsored tournaments or occasions for a interval of 6 months. Notably, it will stop the crew from taking part within the World Aquatics Water Polo World Cup, one of many primer water polo tournaments. As well as, the crew must pay at the very least $50,000 USD in fines, with penalties rising as much as $100,000 if a repeat offense is dedicated earlier than October 17, 2026.
“Article 5 DUTIES OF GOOD CONDUCT
5.1 Coated Individuals should all the time act truthfully, pretty, impartially and in
accordance with the best moral requirements of integrity and
transparency.
5.2 Coated Individuals should keep away from any conduct that’s inconsistent with or
that undermines in any method the targets of this Integrity Code.
5.3 Coated Individuals should keep away from acts or omissions that give the
look of impropriety, or that disparage World Aquatics, or that
carry (or have the potential to carry) World Aquatics, Aquatics and/or
sport typically into disrepute.
5.4 Coated Individuals should not be concerned with entities or individuals whose
actions or reputations are inconsistent with the ideas set out in
this Integrity Code. To ensure that this provision to use, it’s essential
that the Coated Particular person has beforehand been suggested in writing by
World Aquatics, a Continental Organisation, a World Aquatics Member,
or different related authority with jurisdiction over the Coated Particular person
that there must be no extra affiliation with such entity/particular person,
and of the results that can apply if any affiliation continues.
5.5 Coated Individuals should keep away from any offensive, violent or disrespectful
behaviour in the direction of different individuals, together with, the officers, different
athletes, media, and/or spectators throughout the complete conduct of a
competitors. Such behaviour in the direction of a doping management official can be
prohibited at any time.
5.6 Coated Individuals should keep away from any act of discrimination towards anybody
on the premise of race, pores and skin color, gender, faith, sexual orientation,
language, political or different opinion, nationwide or social origin, property,
start, incapacity or some other floor.
5.7 Coated Individuals should keep away from interference, disobedience or
obstruction to the orderly conduct of any sporting occasion inside or
outdoors of the venue(s).
5.8 Coated Individuals should keep away from interference with any side of the sphere
of play.
5.9 Coated Individuals should actively take part within the full conduct of the
competitors, together with victory ceremonies and, if relevant,
displays and/or press conferences. Any political or non secular
assertion or behaviour is strictly prohibited throughout these instances.
5.10 Athlete Help Personnel shall cooperate with the anti-doping
testing program and shall not use or possess any substance or
methodology prohibited beneath the World Anti-Doping Code with out legitimate
justification.”
