Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko did not rule out the possibility that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) may exclude all Russian athletes from the list of participants in the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. According to him, he came to such conclusions after studying the reports of members of the IOC, as well as the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) on the eve of the IOC meeting on June 21. He announced this to Interfax on Monday.
So, according to Mutko, he read two interviews with IOC Vice President John Coates, as well as the head of the WADA independent commission Dick Pound and part of the report of the head of the WADA Commission on Investigation of Doping Samples at the Winter Olympics in Sochi Richard McLaren. As a result, the Russian minister concluded, “there may be a worse period” than the exclusion of only Russian athletes from participation in the Olympic Games, “the whole team can be punished.”
On June 17, the Council of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) confirmed the decision to extend the disqualification of the All-Russian Athletics Federation (ARAF) and, accordingly, prohibit Russian athletes from participating in international tournaments.
Mutko also said that, in his opinion, the ARAF was to blame for the suspension of Russian athletes. She, according to him, “was improperly managed, it turned out not to be such a partner of the International Federation (IAAF), there are, of course, subjective things.”
In general, the minister believes that the situation around Russian sports is currently politicized, which is not reflected in the growth of its popularity in the country. “Let’s figure it out. I think that this will make Russian sport more stable, today it is on the rise, it is becoming more popular, and we can no longer turn from this path: people love sports, many are engaged in it, millions of children attend sports schools – this will not go anywhere, well What about political times? .. Well, they wanted it that way, ”he said.
The IOC will hold a special session on June 21 to discuss whether individual athletes deserve an individual approach or should be collectively responsible if some athletes are suspended from the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. In May, the head of the IOC, Thomas Bach, made the option of removing the entire Russian team from the Games.
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