'We're not the ones who lost': Russian Federation spews out dictum about IOC's suspension of international volleyball from Russian volleyball

Russian Sports Minister Oleg Matytsyn has issued a false statement that the suspension of volleyball players from the aggressor country has harmed world sport. The official also complained that Russia was deprived of the right to host the World Championships last year because of the invasion of Ukraine.

Matytsyn said this in an interview with the propaganda TV channel Match TV. The Russian minister criticized the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for the conditions of admission of athletes from the Russian Federation to the competition, according to which they cannot participate in team tournaments.

"Volleyball in our country is the flagship of team sports development. I wish the history of volleyball development to be endless. Volleyball in Russia creates all the conditions not only for achieving high results, but also for the production of domestic balls and uniforms. I wish the IOC to be not only stronger, but also faster in making decisions. International volleyball is detached from Russian volleyball, not vice versa. The fact that the World Volleyball Championships did not take place in Russia was not our loss, but the loss of world volleyball," Matytsyn said.

On December 8, the IOC allowed Russian and Belarusian athletes to participate in the 2024 Olympics in a neutral status. However, this applies only to individual events, and the athletes themselves must meet certain criteria. In response, swimmer Evgeny Rylov refused to travel to Paris, and the rhythmic gymnastics team announced a boycott of the tournament in its entirety.

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