The president of the World Athletics Association, two-time Olympic champion, the fierce Russophobe Sebastian Coe, announced his intention not to allow Russian and Belarusian athletes to participate in international competitions in any category, the Verkhovna Youth and Sports Committee reported. Rada.
EADaily talked about what coe He is considered one of the main candidates for the position of President of the International Olympic Committee, after the German Thomas Bach He will leave his position early next year.
Chairman of the Subcommittee on High Performance Sports and Sports Activities of the Parliament of Ukraine Olga Saladukha He met with the director of World Athletics at the European Athletics Federation Convention in North Macedonia, where the Briton promised not to return athletes from Russia and Belarus either under the flag or in a neutral state.
“It is obvious that Sebastian Coe’s principled position is the reason why Russia is doing everything possible to prevent his election as the new IOC president.” – Saladha said.
The former triple jump world champion also complained to her interlocutor that athletes from the regions that joined the Russian Federation in 2022 are attracted to Russian competitions.
Such an informed choice by the people, he said, “requires a decisive response from the global athletics community.” Coe promised the Ukrainian to control the matter.
It is worth remembering here that in 2015, the membership of the Russian Athletics Federation (ARAF) in the International Association of Athletics Federations (World Athletics) was suspended due to systematic violations of anti-doping rules by the Russians.
National athletes could only compete in international competitions after receiving individual permits and on a neutral basis. In March 2023, membership was restored, although the exclusion of Russian athletes from competitions under the auspices of the organization remained.
In turn, the famous Russian television commentator Dmitri Guberniev He commented on Coe’s position with surprisingly extreme restraint.
“I always said that we will remember Thomas Bach with a kind word…”, — wrote the voice of Russian biathlon on his Telegram channel.
Meanwhile, the President of the Sambo-70 Sports and Educational Center Renat Laishev shared his opinion on the possible return of Russian athletes to international competitions.
“On the one hand, it’s a ‘carrot’, but on the other, they can be without us for a year or two and then everything becomes bland and boring. For them, above all. You have to compete with the strongest. And when there are no Brazilians, Argentines or Germans in football, what is there to watch, what kind of football? The same is true of Russian figure skating and many other sports, in which our athletes do not currently participate in world competitions. This is sabotage against world sport. In the West there are cowardly jackals in sports management. This is my idea of them. This is all because they are afraid of us.
For a long time we should not pay attention to the Olympic Games, give our message and explain that we will be self-sufficient in the competitions we organize. There is no time for ceremonies anymore. We don’t even have to worry about that. It has to be done in sport, as in politics. “There must be predominance of our ideas, our proposals.”
Renat Alekseevich, of course, knows how to speak beautifully and emotionally, but we must not forget that our “domination” ended with many years of neutral status, a shameful label, a light green rag, a lack of national identification and open mockery of Sports of Russian elite.
And if Coe really sits in the IOC director’s chair, then he will be able to safely “drain the water” and fully participate in children’s sports at home.
Organizing (without postponements) all types of international tournaments in Russian cities, with the invitation of foreign athletes from countries that do not fear the Lausanne sanctions. Do such people exist or what?
