Putin's friend called the Russian national team at the 2024 Olympics a "team of homeless"

The head of the All-Russian Rhythmic Gymnastics Federation (ARGF), Irina Viner, compared neutral athletes at the 2024 Olympics, which will be held in Paris from July 26 to August 11, 2024, to a "team of homeless people." On March 19, the IOC allowed Russians and Belarusians to participate in the Games in neutral status. Athletes from Russia and Belarus will have their own special flag, anthem, and will be banned from participating in the opening ceremony of the 2024 Olympics.

"My opinion was voiced back in Perm at the presidential council, and it hasn't changed since then and won't. In Paris, they said that Russians should play in a team of homeless people, and this is now being implemented. A team of homeless people without a flag, anthem, and fans will go to the Olympics," R-Sport quoted Viner as saying.

The head of the ARGF said she found it humiliating when Russian medalists stood under a white flag, and champions also stood to music "similar to a funeral march" instead of the anthem.

"Athletes from all over the world perform with the anthem and the flag, take part in the closing and opening parade, except for Russia. And team sports from Russia are not allowed by the IOC in any status at all!" Viner was outraged.

Russian fans could not contain their emotions in the comments.

"What a nasty woman. She was traveling from the CIS team herself, but forgot to call herself a homeless", "It's a terrible shame to insult your athletes like that. I hope she will be fined for such words," users write.

It should be noted that Irina Viner was married to billionaire Alisher Usmanov for 30 years. In February 2022, Usmanov was sanctioned by the European Union because of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. In its explanation, the EU called him "an oligarch with particularly close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin."

On May 4, 2022, Alisher Usmanov filed for divorce to exclude the impact of sanctions on his wife. In July, it became known that the divorce was formalized at the registry office. In August 2022, Irina Alexandrovna announced that she had returned to her former surname, Viner.

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