Deputy of the State Duma Svetlana Zhurova commented on the statement of the head of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Thomas Bach about the inadmissibility of government intervention in the issue of excluding athletes from international competitions.
“Of course, he was already crushed by this pressure. Literally recently, I said that Bach would be brought to the point that he, according to all the rules of the Olympic Charter, would say – come in general, everyone without flags, we will compete just as athletes. And peace throughout the sports world.
Governments of countries do not have the right to interfere in the work of both the IOC and their national Olympic committees, ”Vprognoze.ru quotes Zhurova.
Today, February 12, Bach announced that national governments should not choose which of the athletes can participate in international competitions and who cannot. The head of the IOC noted that such an approach would be the end for all international competitions.
In February 2022, the IOC recommended that sports federations remove Russian athletes from participation in international competitions. Most federations followed the recommendations of the IOC, removing Russians and Belarusians from competitions under their auspices. In September, Bach said that Russian athletes who had distanced themselves from the authorities should be given the opportunity to compete in international competitions under a neutral flag.
On January 25, the IOC reported that it was considering the possibility of admitting Russian and Belarusian athletes to international competitions in a neutral status. On February 10, Lithuanian Sports Minister Jurgita Syugzhdinene said that a group of 35 countries would demand the removal of Russian and Belarusian athletes from participation in the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.