Kirsty Coventry: ‘Keep sport a neutral ground’
Ukraine sports minister hits out at Fifa president
The International Olympic Committee president, Kirsty Coventry, has given her clearest signal yet that Russia could be back for the 2028 Los Angeles Games.
A day after the Fifa president, Gianni Infantino, said he wanted Russia reinstated to international football, Coventry used her opening address to the 145th IOC congress in Milan to argue that all athletes should be allowed to compete in sport – regardless of their government’s behaviour.
Her comments are likely to cause tension with Ukraine after the sports minister, Matvii Bidnyi, branded Infantino as “irresponsible” and “infantile” for attempting to draw a line between sport and politics before the IOC president ventured into the same territory.
