The State Duma reacted to the refusal of the IOC to hold meetings with the participation of Russians

MOSCOW, Apr 18Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Physical Culture and Sports Dmitry Svishchev called the refusal of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to hold meetings with the participation of Russians direct discrimination. your country in this body. Earlier, the IOC recommended that international federations ban athletes and officials from both countries from participating in competitions against the backdrop of the situation in Ukraine. On Sunday, Amerd turned to IOC President Thomas Bach with a demand to expel Russians and Belarusians from the organization. «Now there are no meetings, and the decision to hold anything without the Russians looks strange. But in general, such a line of thought from the IOC is direct discrimination «Moreover, the members of the working bodies of the IOC are elected individually. This once again speaks of the politicization of the Olympic movement, which for some reason the IOC has embarked on. We count on the adequacy of the position not only of the Committee, but of all international sports organizations in the near future. Sports cannot be an instrument of pressure or politics,» Svishchev told reporters. Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine on February 24. President Vladimir Putin called its goal «the protection of people who have been subjected to bullying and genocide by the Kiev regime for eight years.» bloody crimes against civilians» of Donbass. According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, the Armed Forces strike only at military infrastructure and Ukrainian troops and, on March 25, they completed the main tasks of the first stage — they significantly reduced the combat potential of Ukraine. The main goal in the Russian military department was called the liberation of Donbass.