IOC or The International Olympic Committee has urged a boycott of Russia’s planned Friendship Games. The country has labeled the event as a cynical attempt to politicize sport.
Russia is planning to stage the Summer Friendship Games in the cities of Moscow and Ekaterinburg in September 2024. This is just a few weeks after the Paris Olympics and a winter event in Sochi in year 2026.
The IOC said in a statement that for this purpose, the Russian government has launched a very intensive diplomatic offensive by having government delegations and ambassadors, as well as ministerial and other governmental authorities, approaching governments around the world.
To make their purely political motivation even more obvious, they are deliberately circumventing the sports organizations in their target countries. This is blatant violation of the Olympic Charter and an infringement of the various UN resolutions at the same time.
It is a cynical attempt by the Russian Federation to politicize sport.
The Olympic movement strongly condemns any initiative to fully politicize sport, in particular the establishment of fully politicized sports events by the Russian government.
The IOC strongly urges all stakeholders of the Olympic movement and all governments to reject any participation in, and support of, any initiative that intends to fully politicize international sport.
Since the military invasion of Ukraine two years ago, Russia has faced a ban from the Olympics. Although, athletes from the country who have qualified for Paris 2024 can compete in a neutral capacity.
