MOSCOW, November 15. /TASS/. The Organizing Committee of the 2024 World Friendship Games in Russia never set out to start a feud with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) or hold competitions that go against the Olympic Movement, the press office of the organizing body said in a statement to TASS on Wednesday.
"We are surprised by the tough position the IOC and some of its senior executives have taken with regard to the World Friendship Games being held in Russia," the statement reads. "Our goal was never confrontation with the IOC or holding competitions that went against the Olympic Movement."
"The World Friendship Games were meant to be a harmonious addition to the international calendar of sports tournaments," the statement continued. "For Russian athletes, who have been barred from major international competitions, the World Friendship Games will be the most important athletic event in recent years, providing them with an opportunity to participate in a representative international sports forum alongside the strongest foreign athletes, giving them motivation and support to continue with their active professional careers."
The Organizing Committee added in its statement that "even in the most difficult times sports served as a platform for unification, a tool of mutual understanding and good relations."
Earlier this week, the IOC cautioned National Olympic Committees (NOCs) against participating in the World Friendship Games in Russia next year, as this would violate the global Olympic body’s recommendations. IOC Director of National Olympic Committees (NOC) Relations James Macleod said: "Considering the increasing politicization of world sport, we would ask that all NOCs exercise caution with respect to this initiative."
"Indeed, any NOC involvement in the World Friendship Games would not only go against the IOC EB's [Executive Board] recommendation of 25 February 2022 with respect to international sporting events being held in Russia but also against the Olympic Movement's collective aim of maintaining the independence and autonomy of sport," Macleod added.
IOC President Thomas Bach stated on June 22 that "the Russian government was going to hold politicized competitions."
Russian President Vladimir Putin decreed earlier in the year that in 2024, the first Summer World Friendship Games be held in the Russian capital of Moscow. Russian Sports Minister Oleg Matytsin later announced that the BRICS Games and the World Friendship Games have nothing to do with politics and are in no way a condemnation of the IOC.
IOC sanctions against Russia
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.