MOSCOW, Oct 6 international competitions is an impetus for the authorities to continue efforts to defend the interests of Russian athletes, Dmitry Peskov, the press secretary of the President of the Russian Federation, told reporters. The International Boxing Association (IBA) on Wednesday announced the admission of athletes from Russia and Belarus to competitions. Russian and Belarusian boxers will be able to compete in international tournaments under the flags of their countries, and if they win, national anthems will be played. «Of course, this is very important, very positive news, and we see that, unfortunately, so far this is a very rare example of such a federation, which «We manage to defend the interests of our athletes in this way. But this is not a reason to calm down, on the contrary, only an additional impetus for our sports authorities to continue efforts to defend the interests of our athletes. Our elite sport can and should have the right to compete in international competitions, we must fight for it» — said Peskov, answering the question of how the Kremlin evaluates the admission of Russian and Belarusian boxers to competitions.
