Russian Sports Ministry working on minimizing negative effects of pulling competitions from Russia - minister

MOSCOW. March 2 (Interfax) - The Russian Sports Ministry is conducting consultations with international sports federations to minimize negative consequences for athletes in light of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) recommendation that no tournaments be held in Russia, Sports Minister Oleg Matytsin said.

"We have already started this work, and we're discussing and cooperating with federations on a daily and an hourly basis, and I hope we'll manage to minimize consequences of disruptions of international competitions for our athletes," Matytsin said at a ministry board meeting.

The IOC recently recommended that international federations remove tournaments from Russia and Belarus and bar teams from these countries from competing over the situation in Ukraine.