Russia “scandalized” by “illegal, unfair and unacceptable” IOC decisions – Paris’2024

Reaction comes one day after the organization announced that Russian and Belarusian athletes would not be able to participate in the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games

This Wednesday, Russia described as “illegal, unfair and unacceptable” the decisions of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), which forced Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete under a neutral flag in Paris’ 2024 and banned participation in the opening ceremony.

“The IOC’s decisions are illegal, unfair and unacceptable. We are scandalized by the unprecedented discriminatory conditions imposed by the International Olympic Committee on Russian athletes,” said the official representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, Maria Zakharova.

The reaction comes one day after the IOC announced that Russian and Belarusian athletes would not be able to participate in the opening ceremony, in the middle of the River Seine, in the French capital, on July 26th, the start date of the Olympic Games, which will last until the 11th. of August.

The Olympic body justified the decision with the fact that the athletes competed in an “individual capacity”, as a result of the sanctions imposed on the two countries, motivated by the war in Ukraine, which was invaded by Russia on February 24, 2022, with support from Belarus.

“These decisions demonstrate the extent to which the IOC has moved away from its principles and is inclined towards racism and neo-Nazism”, insisted Maria Zakharova, in reference to one of the arguments used by Russian President Vladimir Putin to justify the invasion of Ukraine.

The representative of Russian diplomacy regretted the criticism made on Tuesday of the Friendship Games, a competition created by Russia as an alternative to the Olympic Games, considered by the IOC to be a “cynical attempt to politicize sport”.

The organization reaffirmed its “strong position against the politicization of sport” and urged all members of the Olympic Movement and all governments to boycott the Friendship Games, which, according to the IOC, constitutes “a flagrant violation of the Olympic Charter”.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov reinforced Maria Zakharova’s words, accusing the IOC of trying to “intimidate Russian athletes”, which “completely undermines the authority” of the international body.

By Lusa