Without Russian athletes, major international sporting events like the Olympics cannot be deemed “complete,” according to Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko.
A large number of international competitions continue to exclude Russian and Belarusian athletes due to the situation in Ukraine.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced earlier this month that it will start looking into a trail back for athletes from the two countries, signalling a possible shift.
Chernyshenko stated that “common sense” must prevail while speaking at a session with Russian sports authorities on Monday in Moscow.
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Without our athletes, international competitions, including the Olympic Games, are incomplete,” said the Russian minister, as quoted by TASS.
“Following the results of the [IOC] Lausanne summit, an initiative was adopted to revise the recommendations [on banning Russian athletes].
“The Ministry of Sports, the Russian Olympic Committee and the Foreign Ministry are doing everything possible to remove the restrictions, it must be stated that the mood dictates common sense.”
Chernyshenko is a well-known athlete in his native country and served as head of the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympic Games organising committee.
After Moscow began its military campaign in February, he was deprived of his Olympic Order along with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Chernyshenko pointed out that Russia is seeking closer sporting ties with non-Western nations as a result of the present penalties on athletes, which were brought about by an IOC proposal to sports federations.
“We are working on alternative formats with the BRICS and SCO [Shanghai Cooperation Organization] countries,” Chernyshenko said.
The deputy prime minister claimed that despite the severe restrictions imposed on Russia, which included a last-minute blanket exclusion of the country’s para-athletes from the March Beijing Winter Paralympics, his nation had successfully adjusted by setting up substitute local competitions.
“We compensated for the injustice with our Paralympians [by organizing] the winter and summer games, ‘We are together – Sport’,” said Chernyshenko.
“There is no question of any comprehensive isolation of Russia, our ill-wishers have not succeeded.
“Next year we set the bar for a minimum of 13,000 competitions in the country.”
