MOSCOW, Aug 16 The International Biathlon Union (IBU) pushes athletes into politics Although sport should remain outside this sphere, our athletes need to take a tough stance and go to court, Dmitry Svishchev, head of the State Duma Sports Committee, told reporters. On Tuesday, the IBU Executive Committee announced that it had decided to recommend to the IBU Congress that the suspension of Russian and Belarusian athletes remain from international competitions until further notice. The proposal will be submitted for approval to the IBU Congress, which will be held in Salzburg on September 15–18. we know that sport should be outside the political sphere… The IBU is clearly not doing its job, it’s time for our athletes and functionaries to develop a tough position and go to court,” he said. He noted that the organization’s indirect demands to take any political position are contrary to the Olympic Charter «This is also stated in the Olympic Charter. It turns out that the IBU is indirectly trying to go against and calls on Russian and Belarusian athletes to take any position on the political issue,» he specified.
