MOSCOW, October 5. /TASS/. President of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) Stanislav Pozdnyakov does not think Russian athletes will be able to take part in the Winter Youth Olympic Games (YOG) in South Korea next year.

"International federations for sports made an illegal and unjust move to ban athletes, including juniors, those eligible for the youth Olympics, from competing. Because of this, we missed the deadline to qualify for the Winter Youth Olympic Games long ago. The ROC received no invitations to these events, nor was there any discussion about this via either direct or indirect communication with our counterparts in Lausanne," Pozdnyakov told TASS. "Therefore, our participation in the Winter Youth Olympics is impossible, as international federations for winter sports have not taken any heed of the recommendation made by the IOC (International Olympic Committee - TASS) to allow [Russian] athletes to return to competition," he added.

On Wednesday, the International Olympic Committee told TASS it had not barred Russian or Belarusian athletes from taking part in the 4th Winter Youth Olympic Games to take place on January 19 - February 1, 2024 in South Korea where 81 sets of medals will be presented. The YOG program includes ice hockey, figure skating, cross-country skiing, biathlon, curling, freestyle skiing, alpine skiing, bobsleigh, skeleton, luge, snowboard, ski jumping, Nordic combined and short-track speed skating.