VLADIVOSTOK, August 31. /TASS/. The global sports community can not allow individual nations to dictate who can and cannot participate in international events or under what restrictions, Russian Sports Minister Mikhail Degtyarev said on Monday.
In July, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) ruled to reinstate the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) and also recommended lifting restrictions on the participation of Russian athletes in all international tournaments.
"Global sports will not bend to the ‘whims’ of individual states and the major competitions on the IOC calendar will be organized where there are no obstacles for individual participants," Degtyarev, who is also the president of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC), noted. "Any countries that disagree will have to organize minor events or ones at the national level."
"Russia’s case has become an important trigger in this process," Degtyarev said speaking on the sidelines of the 2026 Eastern Economic Forum (EEF) in Russia’s Vladivostok.
"Before 2024 they were turning the screws on our athletes and federations, but in recent years - especially after the IOC’s decision to restore the status of the Russian Olympic Committee - the situation has changed drastically," he continued.
