COSTA NAVARINO /Greece/, March 19. /TASS/. Morinari Watanabe, the head International Gymnastics Federation (FIG), told TASS on Wednesday that his visit to Moscow earlier in the month was "difficult," but it was necessary regarding the participation of Russian athletes in international tournaments.
Watanabe, who is also a candidate running in the presidential election for the International Olympic Committee (IOC) presidential post, paid a visit to Moscow on March 10, shortly after his visit to Ukraine.
"We are leaders, and for example I am the president of the [International] Gymnastics Federation," he said. "We must listen and see how the situation is in Russia. Leaders should be between both [sides] and cannot hear only one side and that’s why I went to Moscow."
Asked by a TASS correspondent how did the FIG chief found Moscow, Watanabe replied: "It was difficult, but we must know and we must listen."
"We must be not only at the headquarters, we must be at the frontline and listen to their voice, look for their pace to find a solution. So we need a time," he added.
After the meeting with Watanabe in Moscow, the head of the Russian Gymnastics Federation, Oleg Belozerov, stated that his main task was to return Russian athletes to FIG-licensed competitions under the national flag and to the tune of the national anthem. Watanabe said it was possible only after the settlement of the Ukrainian conflict.
Seven candidates vie for the IOC presidency at the organization’s 144th session in Greece between March 18 and 21. The candidates are Sebastian Coe (Great Britain), Juan Antonio Samaranch Jr (Spain), Morinari Watanabe (Japan), Kirsty Coventry (Zimbabwe), David Lappartient (France), Johan Eliasch (Great Britain) and Prince Faisal bin Hussein (Jordan).
Late last month, the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) Executive Board has accepted a resignation letter from IOC President Bach.
Olympic gold medalist Bach, 71, was elected president of the IOC in 2013 at the 125th IOC session in Buenos Aires for a term of eight years.
FIG sanctions against Russia, Belarus
Russian and Belarusian gymnasts have been barred from international competition since March 2022 over the situation in Ukraine. In July 2023, the Executive Committee of the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) allowed athletes from Russia and Belarus to take part in international events under a neutral status starting from January 1, 2024.
On November 10, 2023, the International Federation of Gymnastics (FIG) published a list of criteria for Russian athletes to take part in competitions supervised by the federation.
According to the published FIG criteria, only individual athletes will be allowed to compete internationally. Representatives of Russia and Belarus are prohibited from displaying any national symbols, or any symbols of their national gymnastics federations or National Olympic Committees.
Permission to participate in sanctioned events will be granted only to those athletes who have not expressed support for the special military operation in Ukraine (including expressing approval for Russia’s military operation on social media platforms through reposts or forwarded messages) and who are not affiliated with the armed forces or national security agencies.
Heads of national delegations, coaches, doctors and physiotherapists may also be allowed to participate. Russian and Belarusian state officials cannot be invited or accredited for any event supervised by the FIG and they also cannot participate as accompanying personnel.