Ukraine secures Russian propagandists’ exclusion from Olympics

Ukraine managed to exclude Russian athletes who openly supported the war against Ukraine from participating in the Olympic Games, the Ministry of Youth and Sports reported.

“The IOC listened to our evidence, which we, together with the NOC of Ukraine and sports federations, submitted to the IOC. We are very grateful to the investigative journalists and colleagues from relevant state bodies for their help in finding and verifying the evidence,” said the minister, Matvii Bidnyi.

Until now, the ministry, the National Olympic Committee of Ukraine, and sports organizations have been sending letters with evidence of how Russian and Belarusian citizens violate the conditions of neutrality. Ukraine’s position was heeded in every sport. The IOC has already published quotas and names of Russian and Belarusian athletes in cycling, trampoline, weightlifting, wrestling, and taekwondo.

“No Russian or Belarusian taekwondo athlete managed to obtain the status of an individual neutral athlete, although the International Olympic Committee approved a quota for 4 Russian and 1 Belarusian athlete. The Russians did not receive any quotas in weightlifting, and the IOC did not admit the most titled wrestlers from Russia and Belarus who participated in Kremlin propaganda events,” the ministry wrote.

Ukraine’s Ministry of Youth and Sports emphasized that the IOC made a fair decision. “We warned that Russian propagandists would not be able to hide the videos where they collected money for Russian military personnel and delete photos with the Russian dictator. These pieces of evidence formed the basis of our joint letters with the NOC to the IOC,” the publication reads.