MOSCOW, March 1. /TASS/. There has been no mass change of sports citizenship by Russian athletes due to their ineligibility to compete in international competitions, Russian Sports Minister Oleg Matytsin told TASS.
"Mass switching has not happened. I think those who made the decision to change their citizenship have already done so. And their transition has not caused any turbulence in the sports community, has not caused a shortage of talented athletes, members of national teams in any of the [national sports] federations," the minister said. "Yes, the circumstances were the way they were, people made a decision, God is their judge. But the system continues to develop, and we see it in the example of almost all federations. In one place, new formats for competitions are being created, while somewhere else traditional ones continue to be developed."
"Young people are growing up, members of our national team, outstanding athletes, Olympic champions, world champions continue to stay with us and inspire young people to achieve. There are things to ponder over: everyone has their own reasons; everyone has their own destiny. But it is certainly important to analyze and understand why people made such a decision. And in each case coaches and federations, the Ministry of Sports and the Russian Olympic Committee need to take action where they can. Not through travel bans, but through creating conditions, through explaining to people what they stand to gain and what they stand to lose in the short and long term," the minister added.
The sports minister believes that some decisions made by Russian athletes were based purely on emotional reactions. "They do not realize that here they have social guarantees, they have the right to represent their country at major competitions and remain an example for others in the most difficult situations. This is important, we need to talk about it too. But there is something to think about here, we need to pay attention to it," Matytsin concluded.