“This time everyone was excited by the number 40” – Kommersant FM
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The International Olympic Committee has announced the number of Russian athletes who will be able to compete at the Olympics in Paris in 2024. This is approximately 40 people. At first, the information was disseminated by Western media, but IOC Vice President John Coates said that the figure was close to the truth. Kommersant FM sports commentator Vladimir Osipov looked into the situation.
Every time the story of the trip of Russian athletes to the Olympics in Paris becomes one of the most discussed in the media. At least in sports. This time, everyone was excited by the number 40. But the fact is that all these are just assumptions.
It is now impossible to say with certainty how many people from our country will go to the Games, says Alexey Dospehov, deputy editor-in-chief of the sports department of the Kommersant Publishing House: “It seems to me that all these forecasts about the number of Russian athletes participating in the Olympics in Paris cannot have any meaning at all.” there is no reason behind it. Now it is impossible to predict how many there will be – 40, 100 or 200 people.”
Perhaps the IOC Executive Committee, which will meet this week in Lausanne, Switzerland, will shed light on the situation. But, most likely, there will again be no specifics, and to face the truth, the number of invitees may seriously decrease due to the refusal of the athletes themselves. Yes, yes, failures are quite possible. The fact is that any Russian can be forced or asked, as you wish, to sign a certain document that condemns the policies of the state or the SVO. Russian Sports Minister Oleg Matytsin has repeatedly said that this is unacceptable.
The head of the ROC Stanislav Poznyakov said last week that such documents could arise at the last moment, after which the IOC even denied the words of the Russian official. But in reality, the situation in which an athlete from our country may at the last moment be presented with some kind of statement condemning the actions of the authorities is quite real, sports lawyer Artem Patsev told Kommersant FM:
“All this goes through the website of the international federation, but the text of the declaration that they are asked to sign in the final is not publicly available. That is, it can only be seen when the athlete has already gone through several stages and confirmed his identity. And only then is the text of such a declaration sent to him by email.”
Some athletes with Russian passports have already said that they are ready to comply with all IOC rules. As an example, the best tennis player in Russia, Daniil Medvedev. But sports lawyer Artem Patsev urges athletes to carefully read what they write, otherwise problems with the law are possible: “Depending on what kind of document is signed and what is proposed in it, it is quite possible, let’s say, to sign for yourself obvious prospects for attracting to administrative or criminal liability under Russian legislation.”
The only thing we can say for sure now is that all Russian athletes who are going to Paris will not spend a penny of money from the state budget. After all, all neutral athletes, including those from our country, whom the IOC invites to Paris, will go there at the expense of the host country.
It is possible, by the way, that this is where the talk about 40 people came from. Perhaps the IOC simply agreed on funding for this amount. And an athlete’s trip to the Games is not a cheap story. Moreover, in addition to everyday issues, everyone will need to ensure proper security. And this issue, like the signing of various kinds of declarations, may also well reduce the number of our athletes in Paris to a minimum.
Everything is clear with us – Telegram channel “Kommersant FM”.
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