Russian President Vladimir Putin has criticized the conditions for allowing Russian athletes to take part in the Olympic Games.
In principle, he is in favor of their participation in international competitions – even without a flag or the playing of the anthem, said the Kremlin chief at his big press conference on Thursday. “Everyone knows that these are our athletes.”
However, if the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) restrictions are aimed at weeding out the best Russian athletes and showing that Russian sport is finished, the Russian authorities will have to reconsider participation, the 71-year-old added. The IOC suspended Russian athletes because of Putin’s war of aggression against Ukraine.
Starting permit subject to conditions
Last week, the IOC granted individual athletes from Russia and Belarus permission to compete in the 2024 Summer Games under certain conditions, provided they meet the qualification conditions. As with the return to international competitions, the condition is that Russians and Belarusians are only allowed to take part in Paris under a neutral flag. Teams are not permitted.
In addition, these athletes must not have any connection to the army and security organs and must not have actively shown support for the war in Ukraine. It remained unclear how this access restriction should be checked and secured across the board. In addition, the anti-doping guidelines must be met – a requirement whose implementation is likely to cause debate in world sport given Russia’s long doping sin register.
Putin now sharply criticized these restrictions. This would exclude athletes who are registered with leading sports clubs such as CSKA or Dynamo. CSKA stands for Central Army Sports Club. Dynamo is traditionally considered a club close to the Russian secret service. However, Putin denied any existing links between such clubs and the security organs.
