Russia has denied that the IOC is asking its athletes to condemn the war in Ukraine

The Russian Olympic Committee (COR) denied on Tuesday that the IOC was asking Russian athletes to condemn Russia’s military campaign in Ukraine to compete in Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

“Do Russian athletes have to condemn the military space operation? That is a false conclusion. There is no such conclusion even by the current standards that we continue to consider unacceptable,” he said. Stanislav Pozdniakov, Chairman of CORas reported by the TASS agency.

Pozdniakov stressed that in the IOC’s readmission recommendation “there is no direct reference to saluting or not saluting the special military operation.”

He assured that Moscow continues to consider “unacceptable” the condition imposed by the IOC on athletes of Russia and Belarus to compete “not actively supporting the war in Ukraine.”

“We are definitely against it. Russians should participate under the same conditions as athletes from other countries. We do not accept additional conditions and criteria, especially those that include some political elements , something that is completely unacceptable for the Olympic movement,” he said.

At the same time, he stressed that the IOC has already started consultations with international federations on the conditions under which the Russians and Belarusians will compete in the qualifying rounds for Paris 2024.

“In each sport the situation is different, so it is quite difficult to reach a universal solution. The IOC has given this task at least a month,” explained the Russian official.

Pozdniakov rejected both calls for a possible boycott of the Paris 2024 Games by Russia and Ukraine.

“Our history shows that any attempt at a boycott has never led to victory for the country that made it. I call on Ukraine to abandon any kind of boycott,” he said.

The boycott option

Last week the Ukrainian Sports Minister, Vadym Guttsait, assured that Kyiv will respect the boycott of the Paris Games if the IOC finally allows the participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes.

Guttsait said that the Ukrainians will do “everything possible to prevent Russian and Belarusian athletes from participating in international competitions, even under a neutral flag or under any conditions.”

In turn, the Ukrainian Foreign Minister, Dmytro Kuleba, recalled that 45 of the 71 Russian medals at the last Olympic Games in Tokyo were obtained by athletes from the Russian Army Club (CSKA).

“The Army that commits atrocities, murders, rapes and thefts. This is what the idiot IOC wants to allow to compete under the white flag,” he tweeted.