MOSCOW, August 16. /TASS/: Global sports organizations are degrading due to their politicization and commercialization, therefore, an emergence of parallel structures in the sphere of international sports is inevitable, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday.
"As a result of the politicization of international sports structures and further commercialization of the international Olympic Movement we unfortunately witness a certain degradation evolving there," the Russian president said.
"This is inevitable and will simply entail an emergence of parallel structures in the sphere of international sports," Putin added.
Athletes from Russia and Belarus have been cleared to participate under a neutral status at the 2023 Asian Games in China this fall. The 2023 Asian Games are scheduled to be held in Hangzhou, China, from September 23 to October 8 of this year.
Russia’s global sports isolation
On February 28, 2022, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) issued recommendations to international sports federations to bar athletes from Russia and Belarus from taking part in international tournaments, citing Moscow’s special military operation in Ukraine as the reason.
Following the IOC’s recommendations in late February 2022, the majority of global sports federations decided to bar athletes from Russia and Belarus from all international sports tournaments.
At its session on January 25, 2023, the IOC Executive Board put forward a proposal to permit individual athletes from Russia and Belarus to take part in international sports tournaments, but only under certain conditions.
Specifically, athletes from the two countries should not be "actively supporting" Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine and must compete under a neutral status.
