Russia This Wednesday he took out all his arsenal of qualifiers against the International Olympic Committee (IOC), whom he accused of “discrimination”, “neo-Nazism” and “intimidation” the day after accuse Moscow of “politicizing sport” for promoting ‘Friendship Games’ to rival the Olympic Games.
It is expected that some 36 Russian and 22 Belarusian athletes will participate in this year’s July jousts in Parisfigures that are considerably different from the 330 Russians and 104 Belarusians who participated in the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.
The IOC announcement regarding Russian and Belarusian athletes
He IOC announced on Tuesday that Russian and Belarusian athletesforced to compete in Paris-2024 under a neutral flag, they could not parade during the inauguration opening on July 26 in the French capital, a new restriction imposed by the invasion of the Russian army, with the complicity of Belarus, in Ukraine more than two years ago.
The Olympic body also harshly criticized Moscow’s decision to promote ‘Friendship Games’ in response to the sanctions imposed and scheduled to be held in September.
The Kremlin’s complaint to the IOC
He Kremlin and Russian diplomacy, always diligent to describe “Russophobia” any restrictions or sanctions to the country, they did not take long to attack the IOC. Denouncing that the IOC wants to sanction athletes who may take part in the ‘Friendship Games’, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zajárova was particularly virulent.
“The IOC’s decisions are illegal, unfair and unacceptable. “We are shocked by the unprecedented discriminatory conditions imposed by the International Olympic Committee on Russian athletes,” declared at a press conference.
“These statements demonstrate the extent to which “the IOC is moving away from its declared principles and tilting towards racism and neo-Nazism,” Zakharova added.
“This is beyond what is acceptable,” Mark Adams, spokesperson for IOC President Thomas Bach. “Link to the president, his nationality [alemana] and the Holocaust to this matter is to fall even lower,” he noted.
Russia’s justification for the war against Ukraine
Russia justifies its invasion of Ukraine with unfounded accusations of “Nazism” towards the Ukrainian leaders, who would act with the alleged complicity of the West.
Russia: in search of the participation of athletes in the Olympic Games and the games promoted by Moscow
He Russian President Vladimir Putin seeks to include the offensive launched on February 24, 2022 in the legacy of the Second World War and in the fight against Nazism. The Russian government also accused the IOC of wanting to intimidate athletes who wish to participate in the games promoted by Moscow, after the director of Olympic Solidarity of the IOC, James Macleod, did not rule out sanctions.
“It is intimidation of athletes. And that completely weakens the authority of the IOC,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov told reporters, warning the Olympic body against any type of sanction to athletes who take part in that competition.
This response from Moscow arrives the day after the IOC toughens tone against Russian initiative to organize sporting eventwith a winter edition included, which would compete directly with the Olympic Games, and organized “for pure political motivation,” according to the instance.
Athletes and Russian politics
He IOC also criticized the “cynical attempt” of exploiting athletes “for political propaganda purposes.” Excluded from the Games, within the sanctions adopted by the West, Russia is trying to create alternative economic, political and sporting events together with its allies.
Another reason for Moscow’s anger is the decision taken on Tuesday by the IOC to prevent the participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes. at the Paris-2024 opening ceremony parade on July 26 on the Seine.
This restriction is in addition to the obligation for these athletes to participate under a neutral flag and on the condition that they have not openly supported the offensive against Ukraine.
“The IOC decisions are illegal, unfair and unacceptable. “We are scandalized by the unprecedented discriminatory conditions imposed by the International Olympic Committee on Russian athletes,” Zakharova criticized.
“It is the destruction of the ideal of Olympism,” added his Kremlin counterpart.
How many Russian and Belarusian athletes will participate in the Olympics?
Under these conditions, theRussian and Belarusian athletes will be few in number in Paris: for the moment only twelve Russian and seven Belarusian athletes have qualified for the event about the more than 6,000 athletes who have already achieved the Olympic ticket, he explained James Macleod.
The IOC experts estimate as a “most likely scenario” that 36 Russians and 22 Belarusians overcome the qualification obstacle, although they should still undergo an examination to rule out their support for the invasion of Ukraine.
For now, Russia does not plan to boycott the Paris games, although they have not yet made a final decision.
Finally, The IOC recalled on Tuesday “the total lack of respect for global standards in the fight against doping” that Russia showed in the past, referring to the institutionalized doping scandal that culminated in the Sochi-2014 Winter Games, which earned Russia its exclusion from Tokyo-2021 and Beijing-2022.
Source: Ambito
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