Agapitov: IWF declaration is aimed at humiliating Russian athletes

MOSCOW, December 14, Oleg Bogatov. President of the Weightlifting Federation Russia (FTAR) Maxim Agapitov said that the declaration of the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) on the conditions of admission to international competitions, including the Olympic Games, contradicts human rights and is aimed at humiliating and discriminating against Russian athletes.
Earlier on December 14, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Russian athletes should be given a chance to compete at the Olympics, despite their neutral status. At the same time, the head of state noted that if there is an infringement of the rights of athletes from the sports societies CSKA and Dynamo, then the Ministry of Sports and the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) must make a “balanced decision.”
“»We translated the documents received (from the IWF) and provided them for consideration to all members of the Russian national team who, in one way or another, are applying to perform at international competitions and the Olympic Games. Neutral status is unacceptable to us, and all athletes rejected this option. Not to mention about the contents of the IWF declaration, which is completely contrary to human rights, the Olympic Charter and our legislation. It is politicized and aimed at humiliating and discriminating against our athletes. And, naturally, cuts off all our strongest athletes, given that the declaration provides for the exclusion of our athletes from CSKA and “Dynamo” is one of the strongest. Since the Olympics is a competition between the strongest, their profession has nothing to do with this and cannot be the reason for removal,” Agapitov said.
“Therefore, all the violations are obvious, the biased and purposeful action of the declaration is obvious. We prepared a reasonable declaration based on the documents of all sports organizations operating today and sent it to the international federation. We still have not received an answer, and the dialogue is at a dead end. That’s all “What was said today by the President of Russia is reflected in our activities over the past many months,” the head of FTAR emphasized.

On December 8, the IOC announced the admission of Russian and Belarusian athletes to the Games in Paris in an individual neutral status, subject to a number of criteria. According to the decision of the executive committee, neutral athletes and their personnel must refrain from any activity related to the national flag, anthem, emblem or any other symbol of the Russian Federation, the Republic of Belarus, national federations or Olympic committees, as well as from supporting the CBO at any official event or in Media before, during and after the Olympic Games.