MOSCOW, October 15. /TASS/. Attempts by the European Union to ban Russian athletes from international sports competitions run counter to the ideals of the Olympic movement and the principle that sports should lie outside the framework of politics, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in response to a TASS reporter’s question on Thursday.
"This does not fit in with Olympic ideals or the general understanding that sports and politics should be separate," Peskov argued as he criticized attempts to politicize sports and actions that he said were inadmissible in terms of Olympism and the status of a country hosting international tournaments.
Earlier, Politico reported that European countries are mulling sanctioning Russian athletes or cutting EU funds for sports federations that welcome Russians back. The options also include visa restrictions, the newspaper added.
The World Artistic Gymnastics Championship will take place from October 17-25 in Rotterdam. On October 13, the Netherlands refused to issue visas to Olympic champions Angelina Melnikova and Victoria Listunova, as well as to Anna Kalmykova.
Thus, the EU is trying to influence the outcome of competitions, Peskov argued. "These are attempts by individual countries to affect the course of contests, deliberately banning the best [athletes] from taking part," he continued.
According to Peskov, everybody knows that the Russian gymnasts who were denied Dutch visas are the world’s best anyway. "I’d like to remind you that our gymnasts to whom [the Netherlands] denied entry visas are the world’s best, and they were traveling there to win. Anybody who knows anything knows that," the Russian presidential spokesman said.
Meanwhile, Russia will stay in touch with international sports federations to defend the interests of its athletes, the Kremlin spokesman pledged.