Putin: Russia will not boycott Olympic Games in Pyeongchang

During a visit to the Gorky car plant Russian President Vladimir Putin has stated that Russia will not boycott the participation of Russian sportsmen under the neutral flag in the forthcoming 2018 Olympic Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea, TASS reports. He has also claimed that athletes, provided they are allowed to take part in the Games, will get necessary support.

Communicating to the workers of the car plant, Vladimir Putin has turned his attention to the fact that many athletes have been preparing for the prestigious Olympic competitions for all of their short sports’ career, so Russia does not have a right to boycott their participation. Besides, President of Russia has emphasized that all sports’ officials and heads of federations should scrutinize decisions of Executive Committee of IOC.

At the conclusion, Vladimir Putin has acknowledged that the Olympic Committee of the Russian Federation and many sportsmen gave a handle for such strict sanctions, however, he has underlined again that Russia insisted on individual responsibility of sportsmen, but the IOC management has made a decision stipulating common responsibility. As a result of this decision, many clean-handed athletes suffer attracting increased interest of WADA.

It is worth reminding that the day before, the International Olympic Committee announced its unprecedented decision that Russian national team was banned from participating in the 2018 Winter Games in Pyeongchang. A specialized committee will be established for making decisions about allowance of individual sportsmen to participate in the Olympic Games in South Korea.

Russkiy Mir