The Russian Ministry of Sports promises not to cross the “red line” for the sake of the Olympics
Russian athletes participating in team tournaments will not be able to travel to the Olympic Games next year.
The Minister of Sports of the Russian Federation Oleg Matytsin stated this, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
“Objectively, in terms of sports, Russians will no longer be able to take part in the Olympic program. First of all, we are talking about team events. And in another part of sports, we see that international federations allow Russians to participate in international competitions that are qualifying or qualifying,” Matytsin said in an interview with Izvestia.
He says that the position of the IOC is important here, which has not yet made a decision, and the final decision “is being postponed and postponed.”
“Just the other day, a ceremony was held to invite national Olympic committees, among which there were no NOCs of the Russian Federation and Belarus. But for now such a possibility remains - in a neutral status. Probably, the IOC will not change its attitude towards the status of Russians at the Olympic Games.
But we will also look very carefully at what recommendations these will be, how they will limit the rights of our athletes to belong to Russia, to Russian symbols, to express opinions on state policy in the public sphere. The Olympic Games are, of course, a big holiday, the dream of all athletes, but we understand that citizenship is also very important,” the minister said.
According to him, the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) is conducting a dialogue with the IOC.
“My colleagues from the ROC are trying to develop constructive solutions. But as we have stated many times, there is a red line that we cannot cross. Although we hope that the leaders of the IOC and international federations realize that Russia is a powerful and long-term partner. And without him, the development of all international sports will be difficult,” hopes the publication’s interlocutor.
In turn, the newspaper asked what is meant by the red line.
“The red line is those declarations that were proposed by some federations, indicating the position of athletes as disagreement with the policies of the government and the president. Declarations condemning the SVO. Of course, Russian sport will under no circumstances cross this red line,” the minister promised.
At the same time, he avoided directly answering the question of whether conditions such as performances without a flag and anthem would be acceptable.
“I’m not a fan of guessing. Let's see what the final opinion of the International Olympic Committee will be. Then we will give assessments and respond accordingly,” Matytsin said.
If you find an error, please select a piece of text and press Ctrl + Enter.
Thank you!
Now the editors are aware.