Athletistic/Chess. Russian State Duma Deputy Svetlana Zhurova believes that against the background of athletes’ refusal to greet Russian participants in the competition, organizers may soon have to cancel the handshake ritual. She admits that such a move may seem absurd, but given the current situation, it could prove necessary.

Pole Jan-Krzysztof Duda refused to shake hands with Russian Denis Khismatullin before the start of the World Rapid Chess Championship match in Samarkand (Uzbekistan).

— One thing interests me in these stories: how will they communicate later when the situation changes? So he did not shake hands with a Russian athlete, but in a few years he will meet him at competitions and how will all this happen? And how should our athlete also perceive all this? Then when everyone comes to greet us again, our athletes will know that this all happened in the past. Soon all this will reach the point where the organizers will be forced to change the regulations and cancel welcome handshakes, even if this is absurd,” Zhurova told Match TV.

  • Zhurova responded to reports about the cover-up of positive doping tests in Spain


@sportru