“If they make such a decision, then they are just idiots!” – Elevich on a possible ban by the IOC on the participation of Russians in the game events at the Olympic Games

Whether International Olympic Committee (IOC) will ban Russian athletes from participating in team sports at the Olympics, then it will be a hugely unfair and stupid decision, Russia’s honored basketball coach told Sergei Elevitch .

Earlier, the Daily Mail reported that Russian athletes could be banned from participating in team sports at the 2024 Olympics in Paris. According to the publication, banning the participation of Russians in such types of games is one of the recommendations that can be given to international federations.

– Well, if everything is so, if they make such a decision, then they are just idiots! And what do sports and politics have to do with it? These are two different areas. Complete idiocy.

Who to punish? People to defend their rights? It’s just stupid. They won’t get anywhere. Anyway, we will participate. And we will participate in team events. Yes, maybe not right away, but there is still a logic. We must defend our interests in sport. What do all those neutral flags have to do with it? Everyone knows they’re Russian anyway. We have to play under our own flag and with our own anthem, and we have to defend that position,” Yelevich told a correspondent.

The IOC Executive Committee is being held from March 28 to 30 in Lausanne, the question of the status of Russians and Belarusians will be discussed on the first day.

Previously, IOC chief Thomas Bach had opposed political influence on sport and any proposal that Russian athletes would be treated as bearers of collective guilt. In January, the IOC announced that it might consider allowing Russians and Belarusians, who did not come out in favor of the CBO, to compete in a neutral status.

The 2024 Olympics will take place in Paris from July 26 to August 11.