MOSCOW, Oct 19 International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach urged continue to comply with the recommendations regarding sanctions against Russian and Belarusian athletes.» This situation presents us with an insoluble dilemma. On the one hand, we cannot fully comply with our Olympic mission, which is to protect athletes and unite the whole world in peaceful competitions. We have always agreed and insisted on this principle in the past when athletes from one country or another refused to compete with athletes from another country for political reasons.We insisted on this principle, since everyone agreed that peaceful competition is the basis of our mission.Now, unfortunately, in this situation, the only way to protect this mission was to recommend the non-participation of the athletes only because of their passport. actions and adhere to protective measures,» Bach said at the general assembly of the Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC). The Executive Committee of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), after the start of Russia's special operation in Ukraine, recommended sports federations not to allow Russian and Belarusian athletes to international competitions.
