Olympic movement must be distanced from political agenda, says Russian Olympic chief

MOSCOW, November 24. /TASS/. The Olympic movement should distance itself as much as possible from complicated political issues, President of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) Stanislav Pozdnyakov said on Wednesday. "We are a full-fledged member of the Olympic movement and we work in line with the Olympic Charter," the ROC president told journalists. "I would like to note that the Olympic movement is not a part of the global political system," he said. "We believe that sports must be distanced as much as possible from complicated political issues." Calls for boycotting the Olympics in Beijing were earlier voiced by politicians from Canada, Norway and the United States as well as by representatives of about 200 human rights organizations around the globe. The reason behind the calls for the boycott regards China’s alleged mass repressions of ethnic Uyghurs in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. 2022 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games in Beijing The 2022 Winter Olympic Games in the Chinese capital of Beijing are scheduled to be held between February 4 and 20, while the Paralympic Winter Games will be held on March 4-13. During the 128th IOC session in Kuala Lumpur on July 31, 2015, Beijing was chosen to host the 2022 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games making the Chinese capital the first city ever to host both the Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games (in 2008) as well as the Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games (in 2022). Beijing won the right to host the 2022 Olympics and Paralympics in a tight race, beating Kazakhstan’s Almaty in 2015, by chalking up 44 votes against its rival’s 40. Read more