The Russian Sports Minister, Oleg Matytsin, assured that they should not boycott the participation of Russian athletes in the next Olympic and Paralympic Games in Paris 2024 beyond the suspension imposed by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Russian athletes, as well as those from Belarus, will only be able to compete in Paris as neutrals and individually, in addition to complying with other strict requirements such as not belonging to the army or not having made statements supporting the invasion.
Speaking to the state agency Tass and which reproduces Le Monde, Matytsin said about the participation of Russians in the Olympic Games that “we should not turn our backs, shut ourselves down or boycott this movement. To the extent possible, we must maintain the possibility of dialogue and participate in competitions.”
“For athletes and our society, it is very important to maintain dialogue and give our boys a chance in a fair fight to demonstrate what a great sporting country we are,” added the Sports Minister.
In addition, Matytsin said that they cannot give “general recommendations” to athletes, because each Federation imposes its own rules: “Some completely prohibit participation, others leave the right to participate as neutral.”
Some Federations - such as the athletics federation - maintain the suspension of Russian athletes from their competitions and will not be in Paris 2024, while others lifted the sanction, although the imposed classification system (for example, the sum of points in recent years or participation in certain events) will not allow them to attend the Olympic Games either. In addition, some athletes, such as swimmer Kliment Kolesnikov, ruled out participating under the conditions imposed by the IOC.
The body chaired by Thomas Bach will meet again on March 18 and 19 and Matytsin said: “We will see what the final decision will be, but so far the position is that there are no new recommendations or regulations.”
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