State Duma deputy, Olympic champion in speed skating Svetlana Zhurova spoke about the possibility of admission of Russian athletes to international tournaments without a flag and an anthem.
“I think behind the scenes everyone is negotiating and waiting. I am sure that as soon as the reconciliation agreement with Ukraine is signed, both the flag and the anthem will be returned to us immediately. Therefore, it makes sense for us to discuss some solutions hypothetically. Here we can discuss their boycott because it seems absurd and meaningless. We need to calm down a bit about this.
Therefore, it is not right to put an athlete in such a position beforehand, to test him in terms of patriotism. No, they are already patriotic,” Zhurova quotes “Sport every day”.
Recall that on January 25, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced that it is considering the possibility of allowing Russian athletes who do not support the conduct of a special operation on the territory of Ukraine to participate in international competitions in a neutral status.
On February 10, it was reported that a group of 35 countries, including the USA, Germany and Australia, agreed at an online conference to demand the suspension of participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes in the 2024 Olympics. In addition, Western countries demanded clarification to determine the neutral status for the Russians.
Formerly in the European Chess Association He called the transfer of the Russian Chess Federation to Asia an embarrassment.
Source: Gazeta
Gregory Robert is a sports aficionado and a writer for “Social Bites”. He provides in-depth coverage of the latest sporting events and trends, offering a unique and knowledgeable perspective on the world of sports.