Nearly 2,000 Russian athletes participating in int'l competitions stranded abroad - sports minister

MOSCOW. March 2 (Interfax) - The Russian Sports Ministry, along with the Foreign Ministry and the Federal Air Transport Agency (Rosaviatsia), are taking measures to help Russian athletes participating in international competitions return home in the wake of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) recommendations that Russians athletes be barred from tournaments, Sports Minister Oleg Matytsin said.

"A conference was held yesterday [on Monday] with Russian national sports federations on adopting special measures aimed at maintaining the training of national sports teams. An operational headquarters was set up earlier. Measures are being taken in close coordination with Rosaviatsia to return members of various national sports teams to Russia," he said.

"At the moment, 1,909 athletes representing 38 sports are outside of our country," he said.

The ministry will focus more on cooperation with countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), the BRICS association, and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) "to compensate for risks related to the IOC's recommendations," Matytsin said.