Russia’s Olympic Committee receives no invitations for participation in 2023 Asian Games
MOSCOW, July 8. /TASS/. Russia’s Olympic Committee (ROC) has not received any invitations to take part in the 2023 Asian Games, ROC President Stanislav Pozdnyakov wrote on his Telegram channel on Saturday.
On July 8, Husain Al-Musallam, Director General of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA), announced that Russian and Belarusian athletes would be allowed to compete at the 2023 Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, as neutrals.
"The statement of the OCA representative, saying that Russian and Belarusian athletes can be admitted to the Asian Games, reminds of the March recommendations of the International Olympic Committee, following which many practical decisions have not been made even a few months later. The Russian Olympic Committee has not yet received any invitations to participate in the Asian Games, and without this, it makes no sense to consider and discuss any hypothetical options. There is not much time left before these completions kick off, and therefore questions arise about the prospects of athletes’ full-fledged training for the required result. To say nothing of all the organizational, financial, logistical and other conditions of such a journey," Pozdnyakov said.
"Over the past few months, we have heard quite a lot of speculation about allowing Russians and Belarusians to take part in various international tournaments. In most cases, the words remained words. Given the lack of required concrete details, we view today’s statement accordingly," he added.
The 2023 Asian Games are scheduled to be held in Hangzhou, China, from September 23 to October 8 of this year. Athletes from Russia and Belarus have been cleared to participate in them under a neutral status. The decision was taken to help them qualify for the 2024 Olympics in Paris. Up to 500 athletes from Russia and Belarus will be allowed to compete. It will be up to the governing bodies of each of the sports federations to decide whether they allow athletes from Russia and Belarus to take part in the event. Moreover, Russian and Belarusian athletes will be able to compete only in individual sports.
On February 28, 2022, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) issued recommendations to international sports federations to bar athletes from Russia and Belarus from taking part in international tournaments, citing Moscow’s special military operation in Ukraine as the reason.
Following the IOC’s recommendations in late February 2022, the majority of global sports federations decided to bar athletes from Russia and Belarus from all international sports tournaments.
At its session on January 25, 2023, the IOC Executive Board put forward a proposal to permit individual athletes from Russia and Belarus to take part in international sports tournaments, but only under certain conditions. Specifically, athletes from the two countries should not be "actively supporting" Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine and must compete under a neutral status.
Photo by Sergei Savostyanov/TASS
