Mishustin highlights importance of maintaining Russian athletes’ competitive edge
MOSCOW, March 23. /TASS/. The Russian government views maintaining the competitive edge of Russian athletes as a priority task, particularly given their current isolation from many international competitions, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said on Thursday.
"I believe that the most important thing for us is to preserve the competitive training of our athletes and to do our utmost in this regard," Mishustin said, addressing the State Duma, or lower house of the Russian parliament.
"In 2022, we held the Spartakiad event showcasing the best competitors in summer sports, while China hosted the Russian-Chinese Winter Youth Games. Looking ahead, we are currently considering organizing the SCO Games [for member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization] and BRICS Games [for Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa]," Mishustin added.
"In spite of the unprecedented pressure, we have managed to uphold the interests of a number of our [athletic] federations to continue their participation in international tournaments. These include boxing, fencing, sambo [wrestling], chess, Thai boxing and tennis," the Russian prime minister emphasized.
"In this regard, we should be pursuing a comprehensive set of objectives aimed at maintaining the competitive edge of our athletes," Mishustin added.
IOC’s ban on Russia’s international participation
On February 28, 2022, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) issued recommendations to international sports federations to bar athletes from Russia and Belarus from taking part in international tournaments, citing Moscow’s special military operation in Ukraine as the reason.
Following the IOC’s recommendations in late February 2022, the majority of global sports federations decided to bar athletes from Russia and Belarus from all international sports tournaments.
At its session on January 25, 2023, the IOC Executive Board put forward a proposal to permit individual athletes from Russia and Belarus to take part in international sports tournaments, but only under certain conditions. Athletes from the countries in question should not be "actively supporting" Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine and must compete under a neutral status.
Photo by Anna Isakova/Russian State Duma Press Office/TASS
