BELGRADE, June 2. /TASS/. Serbia is hopeful that internationally-imposed sanctions against Russian athletes will eventually be lifted, rejecting the idea of sanctions in general, and in sports especially, Serbian Sports Minister Zoran Gajic told TASS on Monday.
TASS reported earlier that Gajic and Russian Sports Minister Mikhail Degtyarev signed a memorandum on cooperation in the sphere of physical culture and sports. Degtyarev, who recently paid a visit to Belgrade, thanked Serbia for its steadfast opposition to discrimination in sports.
"Our position is clear — we are against all types of sanctions, including those in sports," Gajic said. "This should be understood. Now we'll wait and see what happens."
"According to our information, all [sports] federations and confederations as well as the International Olympic Committee [IOC] are considering the option of not only lifting sanctions imposed on Russia, but also that no person or entity should ever be subjected to sanctions in sports ever again," the Serbian sports chief added.
IOC sanctions against Russia, Belarus
On February 28, 2022, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) issued recommendations to international sports federations to prohibit athletes from Russia and Belarus from participating 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 allowing individual athletes from Russia and Belarus to participate in international sports tournaments, but only under specific 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.