For the first time in 40 years, Russian television will not broadcast the Olympic Games, which will be held from July 26 to August 11 in Paris, writes Sports.ru.
Last December, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) allowed individual athletes from Russia and Belarus to the Olympics in a neutral status — without a flag, anthem, colors or any other state symbols.
At the same time, athletes who support the war in Ukraine and athletes who have contracts with the Russian and Belarusian military were banned from participating in the Olympics.
As Sports.ru clarifies, from Russia to the Olympics Only 15-16 people will go to the games in Paris — they mainly compete in disciplines that are not interesting to the mass audience, the publication adds. Match TV decided that spending millions of dollars to purchase the rights would be “unjustified.” Also, the Olympics will not be broadcast by Channel One and Rossiya-1.
Streaming services will not show the games either. Back in February, the Okko press service told RBC that they were not interested in purchasing a license: “We believe that, given the suspension of Russian athletes, this event is not of great interest to the audience in Russia.”
RBC already wrote then that Channel One and Rossiya-1 would refuse to broadcast. According to three agency sources, negotiations on the purchase of rights were led by VKontakte. As a result, the company abandoned these plans, its representatives told Sports.ru.
“A special tab with exclusive content dedicated to the Olympics will be available on VK Video: studios with discussions, expert comments, interviews,” the press service explained.
Sports.ru notes that in 2018, 2020 and 2022, the neutral status of athletes was not an obstacle to the broadcast of the Olympic Games: tournaments and ceremonies were shown on First, Rossiya-1 and Match TV.
The last time the Olympics were not shown on television was in 1984, when the USSR announced a boycott of the summer competitions in Los Angeles.