Sanctions against Russian athletes are “an endless desire to mess up everyday life.” This was stated on November 5 by official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova, speaking at the educational marathon “Knowledge. The First” as part of the exhibition “Russia” at VDNKh.
“An endless desire, I apologize for this word, to make a mess in everyday life – someone was not given a visa, someone was forced to go through doping hell, when all these tests have nothing to do with sports, medicine and health, but only with politics “, – she said.
Zakharova added that Western countries, instead of the principles of Olympism, are trying to create and introduce new rules into sports that no one understands.
“And what is it? Principles of Olympism? You can read them. Type it into any search engine. Everything will become clear to you. What are the rules? “Whoever wants to behaves the same way,” said the official representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
A day earlier, the Russian Foreign Ministry called the decision taken by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to exclude athletes from Russia from participating in the Olympic Games as a manifestation of segregation based on nationality. Diplomats also noted that the IOC’s statement on restrictive measures against Russians demonstrates a policy of double standards.
On November 2, Zakharova stated that the Russian Federation demands that the IOC stop the practice of double standards in relation to athletes from Russia and Belarus.
Prior to this, on October 12, IOC official Mark Adams announced the suspension of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) due to the inclusion of the Olympic Councils of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics. According to him, the decision of the IOC Executive Committee is valid “until further notice.” Zakharova, in turn, responded that such “politically motivated actions of international sports officials lead to the corrosion of the entire world sport.”
In March, the IOC Executive Committee recommended that international federations allow only those Russian athletes who do not support the Russian special operation to protect Donbass to participate in competitions, and as neutral athletes. Before this, in February last year, the committee introduced a ban on the participation of citizens of the Russian Federation.
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