Russian politicization of sports is an excuse for terror.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he had spoken with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. In addition to the fact that the head of state informed the prime minister about the situation on the battlefield – about the constant assaults in the Donetsk region, about the situation in the south and the existing threats, he separately touched on the issue of sanctions and the international isolation of Russia, including in the sports arena.
< p>The president said this during his address to the Ukrainians on January 31.
“In particular, I thank Justin for understanding our call to international Olympic structures regarding the inadmissibility of any concessions to a terrorist state. The Olympic movement and international sports in general must be protected from Russia’s rather familiar attempts to politicize sports – we have seen this repeatedly in different ways. Russian politicization of sports will inevitably mean justifying terror. This should not be allowed,” Zelensky said.
According to the president, only together can the free world protect sports from “those sports bureaucrats who, for some reason, are ready to turn a blind eye to reality”.
Zelensky also shared the results of negotiations with Belgian Prime Minister Alexander de Croo. The head of Ukraine thanked for the powerful defense package recently approved.
“We discussed our cooperation at international venues, in particular at the UN. We discussed sanctions against Russia and the next sanctions package. We also talked about cooperation in protecting sports and of the Olympic movement from propaganda of terror,” Zelensky said.
Earlier, Latvia threatened to boycott the 2024 Olympics if athletes from Russia and Belarus were allowed to participate.
Also, the NOC of Ukraine will consider a possible boycott of the 2024 Olympic Games.
At the same time, the IOC is preparing a loophole for athletes from the Russian Federation and Belarus.
