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12:39pm on Friday, 14th April, 2017:
Comment
I have to say, I'm uncomfortable with how the Eurovision Broadcasting Union has handled the spat between Russia and Ukraine.
The Eurovision Song Contest this year is in Ukraine. The performer of the Russian entry has been barred from entering Ukraine because she has visited Crimea since its annexation by Russia in 2014, and Ukraine has a law banning anyone from the Ukraine who has entered Crimea via Russia.
This isn't right. The deal should be that if a country is unable to accept all entries from all competing countries, it shouldn't hold the contest. The contest should be moved somewhere else where there isn't a problem. These things do take time to organise, but they can be reorganised within three months — especially if the host country is otherwise going to arrest a contestant upon arrival.
The competition rules need to be changed swiftly, so this kind of thing doesn't happen again. What next? Spain doesn't let the UK participate because our entry has visited Gibraltar? Portugal doesn't let Spain participate because Spain's entry has visited Olivença? Russia doesn't let anyone participate because it has laws against homosexuality?
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Copyright © 2017 Richard Bartle (richard@mud.co.uk).