MOSCOW, July 26. /TASS/. Denying dark-skinned French track and field athlete Sounkamba Sylla, who practices Islam, the right to take part in the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games, is a blatant act of segregation, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.
"Another blatant act of segregation occurred on the eve of the Olympic Games in Paris. Black French track and field athlete Sounkamba Sylla, who is a Muslim, was denied the right to participate in the opening ceremony of the Games. The French Olympic Committee cited the ban on wearing a traditional element of clothing during sporting events," the report says.
Zakharova emphasized that this case, as well as previous decisions on Russian and Belarusian athletes show that the modern Olympics have nothing to do with the goals of the Olympic movement declared more than a century ago in Paris and contradict the Olympic spirit.
"Once again, the principle of ‘sport beyond politics,’ sacred for many generations, has been trampled upon in the spirit of neoliberal diktat by the ‘collective West,’ represented by the French sports authorities. Contrary to the statements of officials in France about the desire for diversity and freedom of expression, dissenters are demonstratively exposed to sanctions," the official concluded.