\n
<\/p>\n
MOSCOW: Ukraine has no business interfering in the International Olympic Committee\u2019s decision to permit Russia\u2019s return as an officially recognized nation after years in the wilderness, Russian Sports Minister Mikhail Degtyarev has told AFP.<\/p>\n
A Russian team of 13 athletes and 10 coaches will parade with their national flag at the Youth Olympics in Dakar at the end of this month, and the Russian national anthem will be played.<\/p>\n
Indeed it is 10 years since a victorious Russian athlete has heard the national anthem ring out at a senior Olympics.<\/p>\n
A state-sponsored doping program implemented, according to the World Anti-Doping Agency, at the 2014 Sochi Winter Games, and the assault on Ukraine launched by President Vladimir Putin in 2022 resulted in Russians competing in various guises, most recently as Individual Neutral Athletes.<\/p>\n
However, on July 7 Russia came in from the cold when the IOC eased restrictions on Russian athletes and opened a pathway for them to compete in qualifying events for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.<\/p>\n
A furious Ukraine filed an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) requesting that the IOC decision be annulled.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe IOC\u2019s decision is not something Ukraine should concern itself with, as they are not involved in any related dispute,\u201d Degtyarev said in an interview with AFP.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo there can only be one outcome: the claim should be dismissed, as the claimant lacks proper standing in the case,\u201d added the 45-year-old.<\/p>\n
The competition in Senegal will be the first time that Russia\u2019s national symbols have been permitted since the 2020 Youth Olympics in Lausanne.<\/p>\n
The IOC did defer a decision on whether the flag and the anthem would be reintroduced for the LA Games.<\/p>\n
Ukraine claim the IOC\u2019s decision contradicted the provisions of the Olympic Charter, was taken prematurely and failed to \u201ctake into account the factual circumstances that served as the basis for the suspension.\u201d<\/p>\n
Degtyarev\u2019s Ukrainian counterpart Matviy Bidnyi told AFP Russia was fooling the IOC over their claims to have ceased sports activities on Ukrainian land annexed during the ongoing special military operation.<\/p>\n
\u2018Focus on sport\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n But Degtyarev said what went on between the IOC and Russia was no-one else\u2019s business.<\/p>\n \u201cThe relations between the IOC and Russia are a matter between the IOC and Russia,\u201d he insisted.<\/p>\n \u201cThe IOC, most international federations and tournament organizers follow the Olympic Charter and aim to focus on sport instead of getting caught up in political arguments and controversies.\u201d<\/p>\n Degtyarev complained that Russia had been singled out for punishment when those involved in other wars had been free to compete in sporting events.<\/p>\n \u201cRussia has never demanded that anyone be suspended, and we wouldn\u2019t wish the experience of a ban on anyone,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cAt the same time, many people ask why Russian athletes were restricted from competing while, for example, American and Israeli athletes were not.<\/p>\n \u201cHowever, we have never framed the issue in those terms ourselves.\u201d<\/p>\n He said war was commonplace but that \u201csport should unite, not divide.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe IOC is now restoring this principle,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n A pugnacious Degtyarev predicted that countries who try to bar other nations from competing will end up as the losers.<\/p>\n \u201cThose who choose to organize boycotts and provocations against Russian athletes or any other athletes will find themselves in a marginal minority and will lose the opportunity to host international competitions,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n