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Russia’s top Olympic official says Olympic Movement 'degrading'

"Double standards from our colleagues in Lausanne also form our perception of the international Olympic Movement," Stanislav Pozdnyakov pointed out

MOSCOW, September 14. /TASS/. The lack of clear-cut regulations regarding admitting Russian athletes to international sports tournaments leads to chaos, President of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) Stanislav Pozdnyakov said on Thursday.

"Double standards from our colleagues in Lausanne also form our perception of the international Olympic Movement," Pozdnyakov said. "It [the movement] is on a path to degradation. The lack of clear rules leads to chaos."

Russian President Vladimir Putin said speaking at the plenary session of the 2023 Eastern Economic Forum (EEF) on September 12 that the International Olympic Committee is distorting the ideas of Pierre de Coubertin, the initiator of the Olympic Games revival, as sports must extend beyond politics and should be a uniting factor rather than a divisive one.

The Russian president lamented the degradation of the Olympic Movement.

IOC’s sanctions against Russia, Belarus

On February 28, 2022, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) issued recommendations to international sports federations to bar athletes from Russia and Belarus from taking part in international tournaments, citing Moscow’s special military operation in Ukraine as the reason.

Following the IOC’s recommendations in late February 2022, the majority of global sports federations decided to bar athletes from Russia and Belarus from all international sports tournaments.

In late March, 2023, the IOC recommended to permit individual athletes from Russia and Belarus to take part in international sports tournaments, but only under certain conditions. Specifically, athletes from the two countries should not be "actively supporting" Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine and must compete under a neutral status. Russia and Belarus were also banned from participating in international team events.

There is still no final clear-cut decision on behalf of the IOC regarding the participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes in the 2024 Summer Olympics.

The French capital of Paris is scheduled to host the 2024 Summer Olympic Games between July 26 and August 11, 2024.