STATEMENT OF CQ COMMUNICATIONS, INC., REGARDING CQ CONTESTS AND THE RUSSIAN INVASION OF UKRAINE
(Northport, NY 17 March, 2022) – CQ Communications, Inc., publishers of CQ Amateur Radio magazine and sponsor of the CQ World Wide DX and WPX Contests, announced today that in light of the invasion of Ukraine by Russia and Belarus, it will not accept competitive entries in any of its sponsored contests by amateur radio stations in Russia, Belarus or the separatist Donbas region of Ukraine (unofficial D1 prefix). Logs submitted by these stations will be accepted only as checklogs. In addition, contacts with these stations by other participants will have zero point value and will not count as multipliers.
This is in line with a similar action taken by the Radio Society of Great Britain, following the lead of other international sports federations around the world.
"We regret the need to take this action," said CQ Publisher Richard Ross, K2MGA, "and recognize that the vast majority of our fellow amateurs who are affected by it are innocent bystanders who had no role in their government's decision to invade another sovereign country. However, in light of the great suffering being inflicted without cause on the people of Ukraine by Russia's leaders, we cannot in good conscience stand by and do nothing."
The CQ policy will take effect with the 2021 CQ WPX SSB Contest on March 26 and 27. Future events will be considered on a case-by-case basis, depending on the situation at that time.
