The president of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC), Stanislav Pozdnyakov is furious over the International Olympic Committee's (IOC) reaction to the disqualification of Olha Kharlan at the World Fencing Championships. The functionary called the behavior of his compatriot Anna Smirnova, who went crazy after the Ukrainian refused to shake her hand, noble and accused the IOC of discrimination on national grounds.

Pozdnyakov wrote about this on his Telegram channel. He spoke against showing "sensitivity and delicacy" to Kharlan and complained that "thousands of citizens of Russia and Belarus have been etched out of world sport by Olympic officials without the slightest hesitation." The head of the ROC preferred to forget that Smirnova does not meet the criteria of a "neutral athlete" as she openly supports the Russian Armed Forces, where her brother serves.

"This once again clearly showed the duplicity of the so-called recommendations and criteria. But, most importantly, it revealed the true attitude to what is happening in the sports world on the part of the parent Olympic organization. One athlete instead of shaking hands pokes another with a saber and the IOC president demands to show sensitivity and delicacy to her. The other athlete, who acted nobly and according to the rules, despite the demarche of her rival, at this time begins to receive threats to her life and insults humiliating her honor and dignity. But the IOC finds no reason to show sensitivity and delicacy towards her," Pozdnyakov said.

We shall remind you that Olha Kharlan was disqualified for the 2023 World Cup for refusing to shake hands with her Russian opponent. The Fencing Federation of Ukraine (FFU) stood up for the athlete and is preparing to file an appeal. Our saber fencer herself noted that she was simply shocked by the decision to exclude her from the tournament.

At the same time, Russian Sports Minister Oleg Matitsyn said Kharlan had crossed all boundaries by refusing to welcome a rival from an aggressor country.

As reported by OBOZREVATEL, people's deputy and Olympic wrestling champion Zhan Beleniuk voiced information that initially there was an agreement between Kharlan and the International Fencing Federation (FIE), which implied a refusal to shake hands with the Russian. Later, the head coach of the Ukrainian national fencing team Natalia Konrad shared what really happened to Kharlan.

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