The Russian Judo Federation has announced that it will not send its athletes to the Paris Olympics due to “humiliating conditions” imposed by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
Seventeen Russian judokas had obtained enough points to compete in Paris, but only 14 of them could be accepted, since there can only be one athlete from each country in each of the judo categories.
In the end, “the IOC only approved four of them,” the Russian body criticised.
Following the publication of the new list of Russian and Belarusian athletes authorized to participate in Paris 2024, the Russian Judo Federation decided to boycott the sporting event, which will be held from July 26 to August 11, the organization said in a statement published on Friday night.
“The Russian national judo team will not accept these humiliating conditions,” said the Federation, which considered that “these actions of the IOC undermine the credibility of the Olympic movement” and “destroy the reputation of the Games as the most important sporting event in the world.” .
Following the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the IOC initially opted to ban Russian and Belarusian athletes from participating in Paris 2024, but then changed its mind and authorised their presence in individual sports, under a neutral flag.
#Russia #send #judokas #Paris