"Illegal": Russian athletes banned from condemning the war in Ukraine

Russian athletes were officially banned from signing declarations condemning the war in Ukraine to participate in international competitions. The athletes were warned that such a move contradicted the legislation of the dictatorial regime in the aggressor country.

Such a decision was made by the executive committee of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC), wrote in his Telegram channel president of the organization Stanislav Pozdnyakov. He called the participation of representatives of the Russian Federation in the tournaments under a neutral status unacceptable and stated the need to "restore justice".

"The task is not only to return athletes to international arenas, but with the flag, anthem and other attributes of the Russian team to the Olympic Games. We will continue to support those of our athletes who have been illegally and groundlessly restricted from participation in international competitions over the past 15 months. The participants of the meeting expressed a unified position that Russian athletes are not allowed to sign any declarations or other political statements that contradict the legislation of the Russian Federation. It is absolutely unacceptable for us," said Pozdnyakov.

Earlier, he called the International Olympic Committee's (IOC) demand for condemnation of the war in Ukraine a "sorting of people by origin" and a "denial of the fatherland." In addition, he stated Russia's mission "to make people's lives better".

Recall that the IOC recommended that federations suspend from competition Russian athletes related to the Russian army and security forces, as well as team sports.

As reported by OBOZREVATEL, the coach of the Russian national gymnastics team Valentina Rodionenko called the demand of the IOC to condemn the war in Ukraine humiliation for Russians.

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