Russia says that the IOC’s decision on its athletes is very negative. Russia perceives negatively the decision by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to ban the participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes in the inaugural Olympic parade, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitri Peskov said on Wednesday. The senior official added that it would also be unfair not to count their victories in the table of medals of the Olympic Games, all of which destroys the idea of the Olympics, constituting an infringement of the athletes’ interests. Peskov added that the decision is contrary to the whole ideology of the Olympic movement, and will not benefit the IOC. Earlier, the head of the IOC department in charge of relations with national Olympic Committees, James McLeod, stated that the Committee had banned Russian and Belarusian athletes from participating in the opening parade of the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. The representative of the Olympic organization noted that a decision on the participation of athletes in the closing ceremony of the games will be made later.
