MOSCOW, April 30, Vasily Bogdanov. General Secretary of the All-Russian Federation rowing and canoeing (VFGBK) Elena Iskhakova reported that Russian athletes have not yet been allowed to participate in international competitions, but there is movement in this direction.
Earlier, the International Canoe Federation (ICF) reported that Russian and Belarusian athletes will take part in tournaments in a neutral status, they will be able to get admission to the competition only after consideration of applications by an independent commission for their position on CBO in accordance with the recommendations of the International Olympic committee (IOC). The ICF notes that the suspension of officials from Russia and Belarus will remain in place.
“So far we are not talking about the admission of our athletes. A commission of three people has been created, which will consider the neutral status of athletes and admission criteria. In addition, consultations will be held with the organizers of the competition on whether they are ready to accept the Russians. As we see that there are countries that are against.Who exactly entered the commission is not disclosed, but we hope that these will be independent people who will make a loyal decision.In any case, this is some progress, before we were removed, and now our «status is being considered. But again, everything will depend on the conditions that are put forward to us. If they are disrespectful towards athletes — for example, they demand to abandon their homeland — we will not accept them,» Iskhakova said.
On March 28, the IOC Executive Committee recommended that international federations allow Russians who did not support the special operation as neutral athletes to start. At the same time, the organization proposes not to allow athletes associated with the armed forces or security agencies to participate in the competition.