MOSCOW, September 10. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin doubts that refereeing in rhythmic gymnastics competitions at the Tokyo Olympics met the requirements of the Olympic movement.
"The question arises what sort of representative you have (a reference to Natalya Kuzmina, who is the current president of the international gymnastics federation FIG's technical committee for rhythmic gymnastics - TASS), if under her guidance you encounter refereeing that cannot be called as matching the requirements of the Olympic movement," Putin said, addressing the president of Russia's Rhythmic Gymnastics Federation Irina Viner-Usmanova, who criticized refereeing at the Tokyo Olympics and said that the Games had become politicized.
Putin remarked that the issue of refereeing was a separate subject.
"I believe that you will have more discussions on this with the sports minister and the president of the Olympic Committee," he said. "All of us were very emotional about what was happening to your trainees and you have our sympathy over what happened."
"You've got to press for it [fair refereeing]. This concerns not only rhythmic gymnastics. Our interests are to be protected in international sports organizations, and the transparency of the refereeing process must be achieved. It's not a military exercise after all," Putin said.