The IOC called on athletes to refuse to participate in the Russian Friendship Games

The IOC called on athletes to refuse to participate in the Russian Friendship Games

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The International Olympic Committee issued a statement against the politicization of sports. In this statement, the IOC criticized Russia’s organization of the Friendship Games, calling it a cynical attempt to politicize sport on the part of the Russian Federation and a gross violation of the Olympic Charter. The committee called on athletes and governments to withdraw from the Games.

“The IOC Athletes’ Commission, which represents all Olympic athletes around the world, strongly opposes the use of athletes for political propaganda purposes,” the statement said.

The IOC said the Russian government was showing disrespect for international anti-doping standards, citing as examples the situation with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the doping scandal surrounding the 2014 Sochi Olympics. The agency also recently commented plans for Russia to host the Friendship Games and doubted that the competitions would be held under the protection of the World Anti-Doping Code. The World Friendship Games will be held in Moscow and Yekaterinburg from September 15 to 29. The prize fund is 4.6 billion rubles.

Read more about how Russian sport is developing under conditions of isolation in the Kommersant article. “My own game”.

Evgeny Belousov

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