KYIV: Kyiv on Tuesday blasted a top International Olympic Committee figure for suggesting Russia could be quickly readmitted to the organisation if it starts obeying its rules.

IOC Vice President Juan Antonio Samaranch Junior said last week that Russia was in “clear and flagrant breach of the Olympic Charter,” but added: “The minute the reasons for suspension and non-recognition disappear, we have the obligation to start working very hard to bring them back.”

Ukrainian Sports Minister Matviy Bidny and Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga called the remarks on Russia’s possible reintegration “outrageous”.

“Such statements demonstrate either the IOC vice-president’s lack of awareness regarding Russia’s aggression or his desire to justify the aggressor, which is incompatible with aspiring to lead the International Olympic Committee,” the pair said in a joint statement.

Samaranch, whose father of the same name was IOC president from 1980-2001, is one of the seven candidates vying to succeed current IOC leader Thomas Bach.

Bidny and Sybiga added: “The suggestions of a possible return of Russian athletes to the international sports community are categorically unacceptable and outrageous.”

Samaranch had said Russia was in breach of the Olympic charter “by taking over responsibilities of a fellow national Olympic committee in certain territories” — a reference to Moscow occupying and claiming to have annexed parts of eastern and southern Ukraine.

The IOC excluded the Russian Olympic Committee after it had placed several sports organisations from occupied Ukrainian regions under its authority.

A tiny squad of 15 neutral athletes represented Russia at the Paris Olympics this summer.

Published in Dawn, October 2nd, 2024