Putin stays tight-lipped on Russian athletes’ participation within the 2024 Olympics beneath the circumstances imposed by the IOC.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has accused the Worldwide Olympic Committee (IOC) of attempting to bury the Olympic motion by imposing guidelines on Russian athletes for the 2024 Summer season Olympics in Paris.
Last week, the IOC said Russian and Belarusian athletes who qualify of their sport for the Paris Video games can participate as neutrals with out flags, emblems or anthems.
Russians and Belarusians had initially been banned from competing internationally following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine final 12 months, for which Belarus has been used as a staging floor.
“If they continue to act this way, they will bury the Olympic movement,” Putin mentioned on Thursday.
Whereas he promised to help Russians competing in Paris, he mentioned his nation ought to ponder whether or not it ought to compete if the occasion is designed to painting Russian sport as “dying” and never give a transparent reply if Russian athletes ought to go to Paris.
“To go or not to go? … The conditions must be closely analysed,” Putin mentioned.
“If they are politically motivated, artificial conditions aimed at cutting off our [political] leaders … and to weaken our team, then the Ministry of Sport and the Russian Olympic Committee should make an informed decision,” he added.
Talking at his annual year-end information convention, Putin mentioned an extra evaluation was wanted of what the impartial standing would imply for the nation’s athletes.
“They have been training for years … and that’s why I supported our athletes going to such competitions, but we still need to carefully analyse the conditions the IOC has put forward,” Putin mentioned.
“If the IOC’s artificial conditions are designed to cut off the best Russian athletes and portray at the Olympics that Russian sport is dying, then you need to decide whether to go there at all,” Putin mentioned.
IOC transfer in ‘complete contradiction’ of Olympic spirit
The IOC mentioned impartial athletes will compete solely in particular person sports activities and no groups for the 2 nations will likely be allowed. Athletes who actively help the battle in Ukraine aren’t eligible, nor are these contracted to the Russian or Belarusian navy.
Putin accused sports activities officers of performing “under the pressure of Western elites”.
Russia has vigorously protested in opposition to the restrictions on its athletes, arguing that they go in opposition to the spirit of the video games.
“Everything that international officials do in relation to Russian sports is a complete contradiction and distortion of the ideas of Pierre de Coubertin,” Putin mentioned, referring to the founding father of the Olympic motion.
Russian athletes have taken half in successive Olympics with out their flag or anthem within the wake of main doping scandals.
In the course of the Chilly Warfare, america boycotted the 1980 Moscow Olympics over the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, and the Soviet Union and its allies retaliated with a boycott of the 1984 Video games in Los Angeles.
