MOSCOW, Oct 19, Oleg Bogatov. President of the Russian Artistic Gymnastics Federation Vasily Titov said that he regrets the lack of courage in the leadership of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to decide on the lifting of sanctions and the return of Russian athletes to participate in international competitions. The head of the IOC, Bach, on Wednesday at the general assembly of the Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC) urged to continue to comply with the recommendations regarding sanctions against athletes from Russia and Belarus. At the same time, the head of the IOC spoke out against the complete politicization of sports and the punishment of Russian and Belarusian sports organizations. «If they (the IOC) continue to take the same position on not allowing (Russian) athletes, then I'm sorry that they had the determination to prevent us (for international competitions) and lack the courage to return it back,» Titov said. After the start of Russia's special operation in Ukraine, the IOC Executive Committee recommended that sports federations prevent Russian and Belarusian athletes from participating in international competitions.
