Olympic bronze medalist in cross-country skiing Alexei Petukhov expressed hope that the Russians would still be allowed to participate in the World Cup stages of the coming season, but added that Western officials should not be trusted and relied upon.
On Thursday, the VG publication released a statement from International Ski Federation (FIS) Secretary General Michel Vion that in December the door to the World Cup for Russians and Belarusians could be “open”. Such a decision may be taken after the appropriate recommendation of the IOC. Vion also noted that if allowed, Russian and Belarusian athletes would likely go to neutral status initially.
— We can expect anything from our Western colleagues. On the one hand, they should not be trusted and hoped for. But I think sports should be outside of politics, thanks to the active work of the Ministry of Sports of the Russian Federation, the issue of allowing Russians to participate in international competitions is relevant. All the same, colleagues have a spirit, but today it can be one thing, and tomorrow it can be completely different.
I fully support the initiatives of the Ministry of Sports and the leaders of European countries who want to allow Russian athletes. Now we are talking about winter sports because the season has started. For the same Norwegians, if we talk about cross-country skiing, it will be boring to compete alone. And so, world sport loses its meaning as such. Of course, they can win, rejoice in something, but it will not be a complete picture. It’s the same in other sports where certain countries dominate. I am therefore with both hands for the lifting of sanctions against Russian sport and for our athletes to perform with dignity on the international stage. Moreover, everyone is waiting for this decision, they don’t believe until the end that they can compete in Europe without the Russian team. We hope and believe that the Ministry of Sports will continue to press on this issue and athletes will engage in their activities outside of politics,” Gazeta.Ru Petukhov quotes.
Journal.ru
Source : MatchTV
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