IOC president thanks int'l fencing, judo, taekwondo federations for allowing Russians, Belarusians to compete in neutral status

MOSCOW. June 22 (Interfax) - The president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Thomas Bach, has thanked the international fencing, judo and taekwondo federations, which, in line with the IOC recommendations, worked out the criteria for Russians and Belarusians to take part in competitions.

"I would like to thank once more the respective International Federations - the International Fencing Federation, the International Judo Federation and World Taekwondo - for protecting the autonomy of sport and protecting the athletes. Thank you for putting the relevant procedures in place and following up diligently on them. Our thanks go to all the competing athletes who demonstrated the real Olympic spirit of peaceful competition without any discrimination," Bach said at an IOC meeting.

"But what does all this mean for the Ukrainian athletes? Many of them would have liked to compete internationally. Yet, at the respective judo and taekwondo world championships the Ukrainian athletes were absent. Why? Because they had not been allowed to participate, following the instructions of the Ukrainian sports ministry. In other words, the Ukrainian athletes are being sanctioned by their own government. [...] It is hard to understand why the Ukrainian government is depriving their own athletes from their chance to qualify for the Olympic Games Paris 2024," he added.

"It is hard to understand why Ukrainian athletes are allowed to compete in tennis but not in table tennis. It is hard to understand why they are allowed to compete in cycling but not in swimming," Bach said.

The IOC recommended on March 28 that international federations permit Russian and Belarusian athletes to take part in competitions on condition that they do not support the special military operation and are not members of army sports societies.