Vladimir Leonov: “I communicate with foreign swimmers, gymnasts – they lack Russian athletes, they want competition”

Minister of Sports of Tatarstan Vladimir Leonov in an interview with , he said that most foreign athletes are in favor of Russians returning to international starts.

In March, the Executive Committee of the International Olympic Committee (IOC ) recommended that the international federations, if the Russians are allowed to start, do so individually, in a neutral status, without participating in the team events, and also exclude the participation of athletes associated with law enforcement and supporting the SVO . The IOC has not yet made a decision regarding the participation of Russian athletes in the 2024 Games in Paris.

On Friday, the first stage of the Silk Way Rally Marathon started in Kazan.

– KAMAZ-master is the most successful team in the history of the Dakar, and it was not allowed to race in 2023. How do you rate that?

— As a fan, I would like to see the team among the participants of the marathon rally. For the team, it’s a great motivation, including in terms of technology. But if you are forced to sign certain documents, it is useless. I hope that in the near future justice will prevail not only in this sport.

I do not understand how a competition can be qualified as a world championship when one of the countries which is leader in this sport is not present there. Then you need to make a footnote in the explanation that in this tournament there was no Russian and the KAMAZ-master team.

And thus eliminating the competitors… It’s a sport! I communicate with representatives of other sports: swimmers (foreign), gymnasts – they lack Russian athletes, they also want competition. But such is the situation with the non-admission of Russians. And nobody explains what they are to blame,” Leonov told .