“I would like to highlight the work of Salnikov, his sports diplomacy” – Zhurova on the relaxation of World Aquatics rules for the admission of Russians

State Duma deputy, Olympic speed skating champion Svetlana Jourova in a conversation with , she highlighted the efforts of the first vice-president of the Russian Swimming Federation Vladimir Salnikov on the return of Russians to international competitions.

Previously, World Aquatics updated the rules for admitting Russian athletes to participate in international competitions with a neutral status. Salnikov later said that representatives of sports clubs CSKA and Dynamo could also claim neutral status.

— First of all, I would like to highlight the work of Salnikov himself, his sports diplomacy and the possibility of negotiations. Friendship, relationships. But it all depends on the international federation itself. There are no strict restrictions, but there are recommendations from the IOC. You can do them or not. The question here is we are great to be able to reach an agreement with World Aquatics and achieve this mitigation.

— Will other international federations follow this example?

– It’s a bad start. Someone should start taking these steps, maybe others will too. It still depends on the Ukrainian lobby within one federation or another. Above all, they excite. If they scream, usually nothing happens. But if it doesn’t work now, it will work in the future,” Zhurova told .

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