MOSCOW, January 26 — DEA News. The other day, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) board of directors held a meeting that our sport has been waiting for a long time. The organization finally began to set a new position on the participation / non-participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes in competitions.

Progress looked encouraging, because against the background of the worsening of the situation in Ukraine, “banned” athletes would be allowed to participate in tournaments “in neutral status”. But the clarifications came immediately: in the future, only representatives of Russia and Belarus, who adhere to the Olympic Charter (we read – they do not support a special military operation of the RF Armed Forces) and the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) will be able to participate in international tournaments. It was noted that all athletes will pass individual doping tests before participating in the competition.

In addition, the IOC’s press service said in a statement that the committee welcomes the Asian Olympic Council’s (OCA) initiative to admit Russians to Asian competitions who comply with the Olympic Charter and do not violate sanctions.

The head of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) immediately responded to the IOC initiative Stanislav Pozdnyakov. He compared the actions of the committee on his Telegram channel “with one step in the right and two steps in the opposite direction“:

Pozdnyakov noted that the PRC will make an appropriate legal assessment of the IOC theses: “priority for us — To ensure the rights and interests of our athletes. Equal without discrimination“.

The Minister of Sports of Russia adheres to the same rhetoric Oleg MatitsynHe added that the development of the international sports movement is impossible without domestic athletes (Telegram channel of the Ministry of Sports of the Russian Federation):

As for the first vice president of the Russian Ice Hockey Federation (FHR) Roman RotenbergIn a meeting with journalists, he said he could not comment on the IOC’s statements because of its “lack”.such powersHowever, the speaker noted that the national team is always ready to come back and beat Canada.

The opinions of other Russian sports people regarding the controversial decision of the IOC were learned by our correspondents. Meanwhile, most reacted positively to Wednesday’s main news.

“I don’t know what the outcome will be. I don’t believe and don’t trust these words. The issue of acceptance is of course discussed, but not now. Maybe write, maybe sometime… I think it’s just speaking for now.

“This is an attempt by the IOC to justify that they are doing everything they can to get us back into the competition. But it seems like a mockery on certain conditions. We should never play on neutral status again, we can’t agree.” Just performing with his own flag and anthem. If an athlete wants to participate, it’s his choice. The situation has changed.”

“IOC support for the Asian Olympic Council’s decision to allow Russian athletes is a positive step for us. Diplomatic victory. No matter what they say or whatever rules they impose for us, it is necessary to be prepared for all kinds of difficulties. We must go our own way. If we talk about a neutral situation, then there is nothing wrong with it, it is a temporary phenomenon. For example, we competed under the federation flag in the last Sambo Championship. We must prove that we are stronger“.