Russia to keep its stance aimed at democratizing sports, says Putin

MOSCOW, September 2. /TASS/. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) is flagrantly flouting the Olympic ideals, but Russia will keep on walking the path of democratizing sports and removing far-fetched restrictions, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in an interview with Mongolia’s Onoodor daily.
“The current leaders of the International Olympic Committee, acting at the behest of the collective West – primarily the United States – are flagrantly flouting the Olympic ideals they should be defending. Instead of promoting the rights of athletes, the integrity and universality of the Olympic movement, they are clinging to their social position, power and personal prosperity,” Putin stated.
“Russia strongly believes that sport should be kept politically neutral and recognizes that is has a great role to play in strengthening people-to-people ties, establishing mutually respectful communication, forging relations between states and peoples in the spirit of peace and good neighborliness, equality and non-discrimination,” he said.
“Therefore, we will pursue more democracy in the sports movement, strive to remove artificial barriers and restrictions, and expand the range of national and international sporting events,” Putin continued.
“We will pursue more democracy in the sports movement, strive to remove artificial barriers and restrictions, and expand the range of national and international sporting events,” the Russian president added.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) Executive Board convened for a meeting at the Olympic House in Lausanne, Switzerland, on March 19-20 and following the opening day it decided to bar athletes from Russia and Belarus from taking part in the Parade of Athletes and also exclude them from the 2024 Olympics overall medal standings.
The IOC, however, ruled that Russian athletes, cleared to participate in the 2024 Olympics, would not have to sign anything denouncing their country’s special military operation in Ukraine.
On October 12, 2023, the IOC suspended the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) until further notice after the Russian organization included the Olympic councils of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics (DPR and LPR), the Zaporozhye and Kherson Regions as its members.
The Swiss-based CAS registered on November 6, 2023 an appeal from the ROC against the IOC’s decision on the Russian governing Olympic body’s suspension.
The suspension meant that the ROC cannot act as a national Olympic committee or receive financing from the Olympic movement. The IOC however reserved the right to clear Russian athletes to take part in the Olympic Games in Paris in 2024 as neutrals. Later, IOC President Thomas Bach said that Russian athletes should have no affiliation with the ROC if they want to compete at the Olympic Games.