Russians "could not even think" that they would be suspended from the Olympics for the war against Ukraine

The leadership of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) believed that Russian athletes would not bear any responsibility for the aggressor country's invasion of Ukraine. The president of the organization, Stanislav Pozdnyakov, called the mass suspension of athletes from the 2024 Games in Paris unexpected.

Pozdnyakov said this in a commentary to the propaganda news agency TASS. He noted that he could not even think that the Russians would face serious sanctions, which are likely to remain in effect at the 2026 Olympic Games in Milan.

"If we retrospectively look at the number of international federations that allow Russians to compete, it is not high, to put it bluntly. That's why the prospects for the 2026 Olympics are complicated, and they are much more so for the 2028 Games. In 2022, I could not even think that Russian athletes would be banned from participating in any status. Of course, the fact that our athletes are not able to compete in international competitions in the vast majority of sports dramatically reduces their motivation," Pozdnyakov said.

Earlier, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova threw a real tantrum after Ukrainian Sports Minister Matvey Bidnyi announced plans to seek the complete elimination of Russians from the 2026 Olympics.

As OBOZ.UA previously reported, Russian skier Veronika Stepanova said "go to hell" and was outraged by the trip of Russian athletes to the 2024 Olympics.

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