The recommendation of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to allow Russians and Belarusians to return to international competitions as neutrals is “excessive and discriminatory”, the commission of athletes of the Olympic Committee of Russia (OCR) said, according to Reuters.

Russia called the IOC’s recommendations “excessive and discriminatory”

Among the IOC’s recommendations is that Russian and Belarusian athletes can compete without a flag or anthem, while athletes who support the war or have contracts with the military or national security services are excluded.

In March, OKR head Stanislav Pozdnyakov condemned the recommendations, the position was supported by the athletes’ commission chaired by Yuriy Borzakovskii, a former Olympic champion in the 800-meter run.

“The proposed reintegration and admission criteria are excessive and discriminatory – based on nationality and passport, discipline and sport, as well as membership of certain structures that have developed sports in most post-Soviet states for decades.

In our opinion, a dangerous precedent has been set when no athlete in the world can be sure that from now on his human and civil rights will be properly respected, that decisions will be made on the basis of the Law and the Olympic Charter – without exceptions. .

Today, we, athletes, become hostages of political games that divide the international sports community, sowing discord in the Olympic family – dictating the parameters of admission, determining who has the right to participate in competitions and who does not.” This is stated in the message of the commission of athletes of the Olympic Committee of Russia.

Table tennis, pentathlon, fencing, judo and taekwondo are among the Olympic sports that returned athletes from Russia and Belarus as neutrals.

The IOC should make a decision on the participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes in the 2024 Olympics later, and Ukraine has threatened to boycott the Games if Russians are allowed to compete in them.

Although the commission of Russian athletes considers the IOC’s recommendations excessive, others argue that they are too lenient.

British and French sports ministers insisted on Tuesday that Russian and Belarusian athletes should never compete as neutrals, while Ukraine banned its national sports teams from competing in competitions involving athletes from the two countries.

Former figure skater Oksana Bayul-Farina, Ukraine’s first-ever Olympic champion, said this month that the Russian should be banned from the Olympics.