"Complete arbitrariness": Russia says that "no one remembers why we are expelled", mixing doping and war

Russia's new Sports Minister Mikhail Degtyarev is furious over the suspension of Russian athletes from international competitions. The henchman of Vladimir Putin's dictatorial regime tried to pretend that the world no longer understands why the representatives of the aggressor country were punished.

Degtyarev said this in an interview with the propaganda outlet Komsomolskaya Pravda. The Russian official, in traditional Kremlin rhetoric, complained about the alleged politicization of sports, calling the sanctions against Russian athletes lawlessness on a national basis.

"No one remembers why we were expelled. Whether it was for doping or for participating in the war in Ukraine (as the Russian Federation shamefully calls the war in Ukraine - ed.), no one remembers how it all started. Well, this is complete lawlessness. There is no isolation. There is discrimination against our athletes and the denial of access to some international competitions. They demanded more and more actions from us. We ended up living to see the special operation and no one remembers why they started punishing the athletes. And the conclusion is very simple. It is about discrimination for political and ethnic reasons," Degtyarev said in hysterics.

Earlier, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova accused the International Olympic Committee of conspiring with Ukraine against Russians.

As OBOZ.UA previously reported, legendary hockey goalkeeper Dominik Hasek criticized the IOC for allowing Russian athletes to participate in the 2024 Olympics.

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