MOSCOW, November 2. /TASS/. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has shown its hypocrisy, having only now, in the context of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, remembered that athletes cannot bear collective responsibility, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in the program "Moscow. Kremlin. Putin".

"Not only have I seen and read this statement, we have already reacted - our ministry. This is, of course, outrageous. Once again we see an example of the bias and ineptitude of the International Olympic Committee, which time and again proves its political bent," the top diplomat said in the program, a fragment of which journalist Pavel Zarubin uploaded to his Telegram channel.

"It actively supports everything that meets the interests of Western countries, primarily the United States, and tries to find wordings that generally props up this policy," Lavrov added.

Earlier, the International Olympic Committee warned that it would come down hard on athletes and officials who come out against Israeli representatives. The IOC said in a statement that athletes should not bear responsibility for the actions of their governments.

At the same time, the IOC is "trying in every possible way to palm off the actions against Russia and Belarus as restrictions that do not violate the Olympic Charter," the top diplomat went on to say. "It's a shame. Of course, the Olympic Committee has discredited itself greatly. And I think it’s not for nothing that at the initiative of President [Vladimir Putin], we will organize a host of sporting events that will be truly international, universal and show respect for those principles enshrined in the Olympic Charter, which the IOC is grossly violating," he summed up.