The IOC urged athletes not to participate in the Friendship Games organized by the Russian Federation
Kyiv • UNN
The IOC urges athletes not to participate in the Friendship Games organized by Russia. Calling it a cynical attempt to politicize sport and a violation of the Olympic Charter and UN resolutions.
Russia plans to hold winter and summer Friendship Games, the International Olympic Committee calls on athletes not to participate in these competitions. This was reported by the IOC press service, UNN reports .
Contrary to the fundamental principles of the Olympic Charter and the resolutions of the UN General Assembly, the Russian government intends to organize purely politically motivated sporting events. The Russian government has created and is funding the "International Friendship Association" (IFA) to organize summer and winter "Friendship Games,
Details
The IOC noted that the first Summer Friendship Games are scheduled to be held in Moscow and Yekaterinburg in September 2024, and the Winter Friendship Games in Sochi in 2026.
To this end, the Russian government has launched an intense diplomatic offensive, sending government delegations and ambassadors, as well as ministerial and other senior officials to governments around the world. To make their purely political motivation even more apparent, they deliberately bypass sports organizations in the countries they target. This is a blatant violation of the Olympic Charter and a violation of various UN resolutions,
The International Olympic Committee called it a cynical attempt by Russia to politicize sport. They noted that the IOC Athletes' Commission, which represents all Olympic athletes in the world, is unequivocally opposed to the use of athletes for political propaganda. The Commission even sees a risk that athletes will be forced by their governments to participate in such a fully politicized sporting event and thus be used as part of a political propaganda campaign.
The IOC strongly urges all members of the Olympic Movement and all governments to refuse any participation in or support for any initiatives that aim to fully politicize international sport,
Recall
The Court of Arbitration for Sport rejected Russia's appeal against the International Olympic Committee's decision to suspend the Russian Olympic Committee from the IOC for including Olympic councils from the occupied regions of Ukraine.
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