MOSCOW, November 21. /TASS/. The Russian Weightlifting Federation (RWF) has nominated Russian Sports Minister Mikhail Degtyarev for president of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC), the RWF’s press service announced on Thursday.

"We have known Mikhail Degtyarev for a long time: we organized the Russian Championship in Khabarovsk when he served as the governor of the Khabarovsk Territory," RWF President Dmitry Vasilenko told TASS.

"We did see his attitude towards sports, we had a first-hand experience," Vasilenko added.

A decision to nominate Degtyarev was made following the RWF Executive Board’s meeting in Moscow on November 21.

On October 15, ROC President Stanislav Pozdnyakov proposed that the ROC Executive Committee hold early elections in December, after which he will officially step down from his post.

Two days later, Russian Tennis Federation (RTF) President Shamil Tarpishchev proposed that Russian Sports Minister Degtyarev should be the president of the Russian Olympic Committee.

Pozdnyakov, 51, has helmed the ROC since 2018. He announced his intention to resign from his position on November 13. From 2016 to 2022, he served as the chief of the European Fencing Confederation. He is a four-time Olympic champion in saber-fencing and a ten-time world champion.

On October 17, Russian President Vladimir Putin thanked Minister Pozdnyakov for his work in the post of the head of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC).

"I would like to thank Stanislav [Pozdnyakov] for the work he has done in the post of the president of the Russian Olympic Committee," Putin said at that time speaking at a session of the Russian Physical Culture and Sport Council in Ufa, the capital of the Russian Republic of Bashkortostan.

Vasilenko said commenting on Degtyarev’s possible work in the capacity of the ROC chief: "I believe that his nomination [to the post of Russia’s Olympic head] has also been coordinated with the country's leadership, and there is a wider vision scope."

"We know him as an apt economist, a person who truly understands peoples’ problems as well as sports problems, particularly weightlifting issues," he said. "This is why, we never hesitated and our executive committee unanimously voiced the support of his candidacy."

IOC sanctions against Russia, Belarus

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.