Official representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia Maria Zakharova in an interview “Sports Express” He stated that the attempts of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to discredit the Friendship Games to be held in Moscow and Yekaterinburg in 2024 have discredited the IOC itself.
“Biased, unscrupulous officials are turning the IOC into a committee at the throat of world sport,” Zakharova said.
At the end of February 2022, the IOC issued an appeal to international sports federations, recommending that Russian and Belarusian athletes not be allowed to participate in any competitions due to the situation in Ukraine. On October 12, the IOC announced the suspension of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) until further notice, following the inclusion of the Olympic Councils of the DPR, LPR, Zaporozhye and Kherson regions in the Russian organization.
Friendship Games 2024 will be held in Russia in September next year. Russian and foreign athletes will be invited to them and will compete in some Olympic disciplines.
Previously on the Friendship Games Organizing Committee rejected IOC accusations