PRESS RELEASE: ATHLETES FOR FREEDOM FOUNDATION OFFICIALLY COMMENCES OPERATIONS

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On the day of the Paris 2024 opening ceremony, the Athletes for Freedom Foundation is pleased to publish its official press release.

We wish suc­cess to every indi­vid­ual involved in the Olympics, includ­ing ath­letes, coach­es, man­agers, sup­port staff, and vol­un­teers.
Today, we proud­ly announce the com­mence­ment of our oper­a­tions in this state­ment.

PDF: Press Release: Ath­letes for Free­dom Foun­da­tion

Press Release: Athletes for Freedom Foundation Officially Commences Operations

For Immediate Release

Alexan­dria, VA — The Ath­letes for Free­dom Foun­da­tion (AFF) proud­ly announces its 501(c)(3) sta­tus, enabling it to receive tax-deductible con­tri­bu­tions to fur­ther its mis­sion of pro­vid­ing sup­port to peo­ple and orga­ni­za­tions in need fol­low­ing glob­al dis­as­ters and cat­a­stro­phes. The AFF mobi­lizes ath­letes to aid in these efforts, extend­ing its com­mit­ment beyond the field of sports.

The Foun­da­tion also sup­ports ath­letes fac­ing per­se­cu­tion for their social stances and indi­vid­u­als in urgent need. Whether a World Cham­pi­on or a local coach, the AFF stands with those who cham­pi­on free­dom.

AFF oper­ates with first­hand knowl­edge of repres­sion and injus­tice faced by ath­letes glob­al­ly. Its ambas­sadors have expe­ri­enced severe per­se­cu­tion, ille­gal incar­cer­a­tion, and false charges. This expe­ri­ence fuels the Foun­da­tion’s mis­sion to sup­port those stand­ing for free­dom and jus­tice.

The orga­ni­za­tion funds ath­letes and coach­es who sac­ri­fice for jus­tice, oppos­ing dic­ta­tor­ship, vio­lence, dis­crim­i­na­tion, and sup­pres­sion of free speech. The AFF pro­motes equal­i­ty and social equi­ty, respond­ing to glob­al crises to fos­ter a soci­ety root­ed in respect and dig­ni­ty.

The Foun­da­tion oppos­es the pro­lif­er­a­tion of nuclear weapons and advo­cates for peace and non-vio­lence, espe­cial­ly in light of Rus­si­a’s mis­sile place­ment in Belarus.

“Our mis­sion is more impor­tant than ever. We stand with those who use their plat­form for pos­i­tive change,” says Dmitri Dubo­graev, Esq., founder of AFF. “With this new sta­tus, we can ampli­fy our efforts and reach more peo­ple in need.”

Krystsi­na Tsi­manouskaya, an AFF ambas­sador and Olympian from Belarus now rep­re­sent­ing Poland, adds, “The sup­port from AFF has been invalu­able. It is not just about help­ing ath­letes; it is about stand­ing up for human rights and free­doms world­wide.”

Pub­lic sup­port is cru­cial as the AFF con­tin­ues to make a dif­fer­ence in the lives of ath­letes and those in need glob­al­ly.

Ambas­sadors

Krystsi­na Tsi­manouskaya
Krystsi­na Tsi­manouskaya, an Olympian from Belarus now rep­re­sent­ing Poland, advo­cates for human rights and free­doms fol­low­ing her repres­sion dur­ing the Tokyo Olympics in 2020. To avoid polit­i­cal per­se­cu­tion, she received the foundation’s help to safe­ly relo­cate.

Andrei Krauchanka
Andrei Krauchanka, an Olympic medal win­ner, and cel­e­brat­ed decath­lete, faced severe repres­sion for his activism dur­ing the 2020 protests in Belarus and was jailed for tak­ing part in peace­ful protests. He remains a ded­i­cat­ed advo­cate for free­dom and human rights.

Ali­ak­san­dr Apeikin
Ali­ak­san­dr Apeikin is a polit­i­cal sci­en­tist and for­mer hand­ball club own­er who found­ed the Belaru­sian Sports Sol­i­dar­i­ty Foun­da­tion in response to the 2020 mass repres­sion in Belarus. He received a 12-year in-absen­tia sen­tence for sup­port­ing democ­ra­cy.

Scott Good­stein
Scott Good­stein, dig­i­tal com­mu­ni­ca­tions strate­gist for over 20 years, led Oba­ma’s 2008 and Sander­s’s 2016 dig­i­tal cam­paigns; founder of Cat­a­lyst Cam­paigns.

Kon­stan­tin Yakovlev
Kon­stan­tin Yakovlev, ex-hand­ball pro­fes­sion­al play­er and coach, now advo­cates for human rights, pro­mot­ing equal­i­ty, jus­tice, and fun­da­men­tal free­doms world­wide.

Andrey Moro­zov
Andrey Moro­zov is a sea­soned sports jour­nal­ist, TV pre­sen­ter, and high-lev­el fencer who advo­cates for demo­c­ra­t­ic val­ues and free speech.

Andrei Chepa
Andrei Chepa, a sea­soned lawyer, resigned from his roles in sports admin­is­tra­tion in protest against the fraud­u­lent Belaru­sian elec­tions, demon­strat­ing his ded­i­ca­tion to democ­ra­cy and human rights. He had to flee his home­land to avoid per­se­cu­tion.

“Thank you for being part of our com­mu­ni­ty,” adds Mr. Dubo­graev. “Togeth­er, we will advo­cate for a world where human rights and free­doms are upheld in sports and beyond.”

Con­tact Infor­ma­tion:
The Ath­letes for Free­dom Foun­da­tion
66 Canal Cen­ter Plaza, Suite 505
Alexan­dria, VA 22314
athletesforfreedom.org
athletesforfreedom@gmail.com

For media inquiries, please con­tact:
Art Balenok
Cre­ative Direc­tor | Media Man­ag­er | Pro­duc­er
Email: art.balenok@gmail.com
Tel: +43 665 6566 8787

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