MOSCOW, September 24 Acting President of the Olympic Council of Asia ( OCA) Randhir Singh said that the doors for Russian and Belarusian athletes in competitions under the auspices of the organization remain open, despite the inability to participate in the Asian Games.
At the end of January, the Olympic Council of Asia invited athletes from Russia and Belarus to perform at the Asian Games in Hangzhou, China from September 23 to October 8, where they could receive Olympic licenses. At that moment, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) was studying ways for Russian and Belarusian athletes to return to competition. However, it later became known that the OCA did not receive the appropriate permission from the IOC.
“»We made an offer to the IOC, but it was not possible to work out the logistics. The Chinese organizing committee organized 500 places for them, but, unfortunately, the logistics did not work out, otherwise we would have been very happy to see them. Russia has a longer border with Asia , rather than with Europe, it’s up to them to decide what they would like to do in the future,” Singh was quoted as saying by Inside the Games.
In March 2023, the IOC recommended that international federations allow Russians who did not support the CBO to compete as neutral athletes. At the same time, the organization proposed to deny participation to athletes associated with the armed forces or security agencies, as well as teams in team disciplines.