ASTRAKHAN, April 16. /TASS/. Russian sports communities should not close down and sever ties with international federations although they sometimes assume a 'discriminatory stance,' Russian Sports Minister Oleg Matytsin said on Tuesday.

"Under no circumstances we should be closing ourselves today by severing ties even temporarily with international [sports] federations, despite their sometimes discriminatory stance and it regards some of them, not all of them," the minister said.

"I believe that we must continue participating [in tournaments], we must win and we must be fighting for the right to compete, including at the Olympics," Matytsin continued.

According to him, despite the fact that Russian athletes perform without the anthem and the national flag, everyone understands where these athletes come from and that they compete for the great country.

"Either enemies or competitors are pushing us to voluntarily vacate the sports arena, because it would be beneficial for many parties," Matytsin noted. "We are strong and this is why nobody needs us. It’s understandable."

"We have qualified and were granted the license to participate in seven [2024] Olympics competitions. I have already held meetings with coaches and athletes and it is up to them to make a decision [on the Olympics participation]," the Russian sports minister added.

The 2024 Summer Olympic Games will be hosted by the French capital of Paris between July 26 and August 11.

IOC’s regulations against Russia

The International Olympic Committee Executive Board convened for a meeting at the Olympic House in Lausanne, Switzerland, on March 19-20 and following the opening day it decided to bar athletes from Russia and Belarus from taking part in the Parade of Athletes and also exclude them from the 2024 Olympics overall medal standings.

The IOC, however, ruled that Russian athletes, cleared to participate in the upcoming Olympics, would not have to sign anything denouncing their country’s special military operation in Ukraine.

On October 12, 2023, the IOC suspended the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) until further notice after the Russian organization included the Olympic councils of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics (DPR and LPR), the Zaporozhye and Kherson Regions as its members.

The Swiss-based CAS registered on November 6, 2023 an appeal from the ROC against the IOC’s decision on the Russian governing Olympic body’s suspension.

The suspension means that the ROC cannot act as a national Olympic committee or receive financing from the Olympic movement. The IOC however reserved the right to clear Russian athletes to take part in the Olympic Games in Paris in 2024 as neutrals. Later, IOC President Thomas Bach said that Russian athletes should have no affiliation with the ROC if they want to compete at the Olympic Games.