Matytsin: the lack of competition with the Russians harms all world sports

NEW DELHI, Jun 23 Lack of competition with Russians harms global sport athletes, Oleg Matytsin, Minister of Sports of the Russian Federation, said in an interview. Matytsin expressed this opinion when answering the question whether the lack of competition with the best in many sports will lead to the degradation of Russian athletes. «This thesis applies not only to us, but to all world sports – the lack of competition with Russian athletes is harmful,” Matytsin said. At the end of February, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) recommended that international sports federations not allow Russian and Belarusian athletes to participate in competitions due to the situation in Ukraine. A number of international federations excluded Russians and Belarusians from competitions under their auspices, and also canceled competitions in Russia. Other federations allowed athletes from the two countries to compete in neutral status.