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The vote was held by the Federation as a response to the refusal of the Directorate of the International Tchaikovsky Competition to publicly condemn the invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation. The Directorate of the Competition, represented by the head Andrei Malyshev, sharply condemned the persecution of Russian musicians, and, in particular, the co-chairman of the organizing committee of the International Tchaikovsky Competition maestro Valery Gergiev.

On April 13, Andrei Malyshev took part in an extraordinary meeting of the General Assembly, where he made a statement. He emphasized, “Recently, they demanded that we speak out on political issues, but we have fixed ideas about it – the Tchaikovsky Competition, so does our state company Rosconcert, focuses on music and art, we are professionals in this field and these are issues we are ready to discuss, such as development system of musical art in the world. We should share experience of holding major music shows, hunting  and supporting talents, and popularizing academic art. Russian culture is a significant part of world culture. It cannot be cancelled. Regardless of whether the Competition is a member of the Federation or not, the International Tchaikovsky Competition remains open to talented musicians from all over the world.

On the eve of the vote, the Federation Board made a request to all members of the WFIMC and directly called for the meaningful exclusion of the Tchaikovsky Competition: “Granting further membership to the International Tchaikovsky Competition, turning a blind eye to what is happening, can jeopardize both the reputation of WFIMC and its individual members. The WFIMC Board calls on all participants to support them and strongly vote for the exclusion of the International Tchaikovsky Competition. In the same request, the World Federation of International Music Competitions stated that they stay out of politics and are against discrediting any musician on account of their nationality. However, Russian cultural institutions and musicians are required to publicly renounce Russia, and international competitions, which are members of the Federation, exclude Russian musicians from the lists of participants on ethnic grounds.

The International Tchaikovsky Competition has been held since 1958. It has entered the WFIMC in 1971 and till 1997 was the only Russian representative in the Federation.  In 2023, the XVII International Tchaikovsky Competition will be held for the 17th time.