This triggered a kyiv’s dutting response, which wants Russia to be banished from the Olympic Games and other international sporting events while the destructive invasion of Moscow sinks.
“We will call on the international community to reject any attempt to standardize the presence of Russian and Belarusian citizens in sport as long as the war against Ukraine continues,” Yuri Muzyka, the deputy minister of Ukraine, told Politico Yuri Muzyka.
“In the Russian Federation, sport is part of state policy, it has no autonomy, and athletes and civil servants are part of the state propaganda machine,” he said, adding that kyiv remained “firm” in his support for a ban.
Under current rules, Russian athletes are only allowed to compete at the Olympic Games under a neutral banner. Some international sports federations, such as ice hockey and athletics, do not allow Russians to participate in tournaments and qualification towers, which means that they cannot qualify for the games.
Those who “actively support” the Russian war, or who work for his soldiers, cannot participate in the Olympic Games (although in practice, this ban has not always been applied). Only 15 Russians participated in the summer Olympic Games in Paris last year, against more than 300 in Tokyo in 2021.
Moscow described unjust and discriminatory restrictions. Coventry said it was not coherent to ban certain countries in conflict and not others, and said it was important that “all athletes” were “represented” at the Olympic Games.
Politices
