MOSCOW, September 24. /TASS/. Russian athletes’ rights will ultimately be upheld one way or another, Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday.
"We have to negotiate, we have to defend our position," he said in an interview with Russia’s RBC radio station. "We must maintain our presence at major international competitions, and now our sports authorities are successfully continuing this dialogue."
"Little by little, our interests will be taken into account," Peskov stated.
He noted that politics continues to keep Russia away from the international sports stage, but this is no reason to "sulk."
"It is very good that our sports authorities maintain dialogue with the IOC [the International Olympic Committee]," Peskov continued. "Yes, we do not agree with the IOC's position, but we still believe that the politicized attitude towards us continues, the double standards are clear, but this does not mean that we should sulk, turn away and say that we won’t talk with them at all."
He also pointed out that the choice of whether to compete under a neutral flag at international sports tournaments should be left to athletes.
"I believe [the choice should remain] with athletes, and I believe that athletes should be encouraged in every possible way to maintain training schedules for the major international competitions and participate in them, in their best interests and those of the country," he said.
"If [Russian figure skater] Adelia Petrosyan stands on the podium, she will still be ours," Peskov 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.
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.