Zhurova: For the IOC, Russian athletes’ refusal to participate in the Olympics is worse than a boycott
Olympic champion, first deputy chair of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs Svetlana Zhurova explained the difference between a boycott and a refusal to participate in the 2024 Olympics. She is quoted by RIA Novosti.
Zhurova said that not going to the Olympic Games and boycotting them are two different things. According to her, refusing to go demonstrates the independence of the athletes’ decision-making.
“And, by the way, for the International Olympic Committee (IOC) this is much worse. From a legal point of view, the IOC cannot punish our country in any way if the athletes themselves refused to participate in the Olympics,” added Zhurova.
Earlier, two-time Olympic figure skating champion Evgeni Plushenko said that he responded to the deputies who asked him to support the boycott of the Paris Games. “I sent them into space, these deputies. I said – you take the place of an athlete. You are sitting, this is a different job,” he shared.
The 2024 Olympics will be held in Paris from July 26 to August 11. Russians and Belarusians were admitted to the competition as individual neutral athletes. Some athletes refused to participate in the tournament, despite receiving quotas and invitations from the IOC.
Source: Lenta
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