TOKYO -- Two Belarusian team coaches were removed from Tokyo Olympics. They were involved in trying send Krystina Tsimanouskaya home to Belarus four days ago.Friday's announcement by the International Olympic Committee stated that Yury Maisevich and Artur Shimak had been revoked and their credentials removed.The IOC stated that the two coaches had been asked to leave the Olympic Village as soon as possible.The Olympic body stated that it was an interim measure in a formal investigation, "in the interests of the well-being of the athletes."After the IOC connected them to Tsimanouskaya's transport in a car to the airport, Shimak and Maisevich maintained contact with Belarusian athletes.Tsimanouskaya had previously criticized team coaches via social media. She is currently in Poland on a humanitarian visa.According to the IOC, Shimaks and Maisevich will be given an opportunity to be heard by its disciplinary committee.It is not clear if the men will stay in Japan or leave for Belarus, an authoritarian ex-Soviet republic.Belarus has been in chaos for one year since Aleksander Lukashenko won a sixth term as president, following a state election that was questionably rigged in his favor.From the 1990s to this year, Lukashenko was also the leader of the Belarusian Olympic Committee. Viktor, his son, was elected to succeed him.After investigating complaints by athletes alleging that they were subject to intimidation and reprisals in a security crackdown following the election, the IOC banned Viktor Lukashenko and Aleksander from the Tokyo Olympics.However, activists in Belarus and international athletes' groups criticized the IOC for its sanctions against Belarus.This would have allowed Tsimanouskaya, and the rest the 103-member Belarusian team to compete independently under the Olympic flag.When asked Friday by Thomas Bach, the president of IOC, about the handling of Belarus Olympic officials, he said that it wasn't in a position "to change the political system" in Belarus.Bach stated that it was "what our responsibility and our remit" to protect athletes "as much as possible," and described the Tokyo incident as "a deplorable case."Alexander Lukashenko couldn't attend the 2012 London Olympics due to a ban by the European Union on visas. This was in response to a crackdown that had followed a disputed election.
