MOSCOW, May 6. /TASS/. The Russian national men’s and women’s teams gathered for a training camp in the town of Novogorsk, outside the Russian capital of Moscow, as part of their preparations for the Summer Olympics in Tokyo, a spokesman for the Russian Volleyball Federation (RVF) told TASS on Thursday.
"The national teams started with their training sessions for the Olympic Games," the spokesman said. "The teams are at the training camp in Novogorsk."
The 2020 Summer Olympic Games in Japan’s Tokyo will be held this year between July 23 and August 8. In March 2020, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced a decision to postpone the 2020 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games in Japan for one year due to the spread of COVID-19.
Due to current sanctions imposed by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), Russian athletes are prohibited until December 2022 from participating in world championships, and Olympic and Paralympic Games under the national flag and to the tune of their national anthem.
Sanctions against Russian sports
The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Switzerland’s Lausanne partially upheld on December 17, 2020 WADA’s (the World Anti-Doping Agency) previous ruling on a number of sanctions against Russian sports.
According to the CAS decision, Russian athletes were deprived of their right to participate in all World Championships, Olympic and Paralympic Games under the national flag of Russia for the two-year period.
The national anthem of Russia was also excluded from being played at international sports tournaments over the next two years, including at the upcoming Olympic Games in Japan this summer.
The ruling of the Swiss-based court also stripped Russia of the right to bid for the organization of all international sports tournaments for a period of two years. WADA’s sanctions will be in force until December 2022.