Olympic Games champion Tikhonov proposed depriving the citizenship of athletes who changed their flag
Four-time Olympic biathlon champion Alexander Tikhonov condemned Russian athletes changing their citizenship. His words are quoted by RIA Novosti.
“My proposal is that those athletes who decided to compete for other countries should be deprived of our citizenship. Once and for all. And ban entry into Russia, all of them – they are no longer our citizens,” he called, noting that one should not be embarrassed to make such a decision in relation to athletes who changed their flag.
On November 29, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced that it had approved the change of citizenship of three athletes representing Russia. The decision was made ahead of the 2024 Games in Paris. Cyclist Valeria Lyubimova will compete for France, cyclist Mikhail Yakovlev will compete for the Israeli team, and Greco-Roman wrestler Georgiy Tibilov will compete for Serbia.
At the end of February 2022, many sports organizations banned Russians from participating in tournaments on the recommendation of the IOC.
Source: Lenta
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