“The ISU does not have the courage to admit the Russians, they are afraid of losing their sponsors” – Svishchev

Russian State Duma Deputy Dmitry Svishchev told that the council of the International Skating Union (ISU) was afraid to consider the issue of admitting Russian athletes to international competitions.

learned earlier that the ISU Council in Lausanne did not reconsider the issue of admitting Russian athletes to international competitions.

“We did not wait for the ISU decision; our joyful expectations after the words of Irina Konstantinovna Rodnina were also unjustified. The Russophobic wave continues, which has overwhelmed certain federations. The arguments that there are certain IOC recommendations are irrelevant, because there are examples of several federations that have managed to admit our athletes.

Here, everything depends not on the IOC, but on the will and power of a particular federation. This means that the ISU does not have the courage to let the Russians in, it is afraid of losing its sponsors. We understand that the main sponsors represented overseas countries. Moreover, they do not want scandals, because our Ukrainian neighbors are taking an aggressive position.

I urge our all-Russian federations to continue the dialogue. There is no need to sulk and get offended. It is important to answer questions every day,” Svishchev told .

The exclusion of Russian athletes from international competitions in figure skating, short track speed skating and speed skating has been in effect since 2022.

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