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Sanctions against Russian sports boomerang on IOC's reputation — ROC chief

"The current recommendations are harmful and the only option is to return to the status quo that existed before they were hastily introduced in February 2022," Stanislav Pozdnyakov noted

MOSCOW, October 5. /TASS/. Sanctions against Russian sports negatively affect the reputation and integrity of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Head of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) Stanislav Pozdnyakov said during his speech at the Executive Board meeting.

"We [the Russian sports community] are in solidarity, based on our regular discussion of the current situation. This is the only possible counterweight to the ongoing attempts to divide Russian sport and society into those who are allowed, those who are not allowed, those who have changed their sports citizenship and so on," Pozdnyakov said.

"The sanctions against our sport are unfounded and illegal, while at the same time they have been boomeranging on the integrity and reputation of the IOC, its true mission, self-sufficiency and political independence for years. The current recommendations are harmful and the only option is to return to the status quo that existed before they were hastily introduced in February 2022," he added.

In February 2022, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) recommended that international sports federations not allow Russian and Belarusian athletes to participate in international competitions due to the situation in Ukraine. In March 2023, the IOC Executive Board recommended that Russian and Belarusian athletes be allowed to compete but only as neutrals, and, moreover, only those who had not publicly expressed support for the special military operation in Ukraine and were not associated with the armed forces or national security agencies. In addition, Russian and Belarusian athletes should not participate in team sports. At the moment, the IOC has not made a final decision on the admission of Russian and Belarusian athletes to the Olympic Games in Paris.