For the first time in 40 years! Russia has made a radical decision on the 2024 Olympics

For the first time in 40 years, Russia will not broadcast the Olympic Games, which will take place from July 26 to August 11 in Paris. "Match TV decided that the millions of dollars spent on buying the rights would be "unjustified." Also, the Olympics will not be broadcast by Channel One and Rossiya-1, sports.ru reports.

Last December, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) allowed individual athletes from Russia and Belarus to participate in the Olympics in a neutral status. At the same time, the flags of the Russian Federation and Belarus and any national symbols of these countries are banned from the 2024 Olympics. Also, anyone who supports the war in Ukraine and those athletes who have contracts with the Russian and Belarusian military are banned from participating.

Russia will send only 15-16 people to the Olympic Games in Paris, competing in disciplines that are not interesting to the mass audience (except for tennis).

Streaming services will not show the games either.

"We believe that given the elimination of Russian athletes, this event is not of great interest to the audience in Russia," OKKO's online cinema said in a press release.

It is worth noting that in 2018, 2020, and 2022, the neutral status of Russian athletes did not prevent the broadcast of the Olympic Games. The tournaments and opening/closing ceremonies were shown on Channel One, Russia-1, and Match TV.

The last time the Olympics were not televised was in 1984 when the USSR declared a boycott of the summer competition in Los Angeles. Instead, the USSR and 8 other socialist countries – Bulgaria, Cuba, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Mongolia, Poland, DPRK, and North Korea - hosted the Druzhba-84 multisport games.

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