The Russian Judo Federation announced on Saturday that it will not send judokas to the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, condemning the “humiliating conditions” set by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
After the IOC on Friday allowed only four Russian judokas to compete in 14 planned categories, the sport’s federation decided to boycott the event, which will take place from July 26 to August 11 in the French capital.
From the list published by the IOC, only Dali Liluashvili, Elis Startseva, Makhmadbek Makhbadbekov and Valery Endovitsky were allowed to compete in Paris.
“The Russian Judo Team will not accept these humiliating conditions. This position by the IOC undermines the authority of the Olympic movement and destroys the status of the Olympic Games as the ‘most important sporting event in the world,'” the federation said in a statement, regretting that “of the 17 judokas who could have qualified for the Olympics, only four received permission from the IOC to participate.”
The organization even believes that “without Russian athletes, judo competitions at the Olympic Games will be incomplete.”
If 17 judokas scored enough points to qualify, only 14 would be able to go to Paris 2024, as each country can have a maximum of one athlete in each category: seven men and seven women.
Russian and Belarusian athletes were barred from the Olympics because of the invasion of Ukraine, but the IOC has begun their gradual reintegration under a neutral flag and certain conditions of access.
In addition to the invitation requirement, athletes competing under a neutral flag had to not only go through the usual qualifying competitions, but also undergo an assessment to determine whether they supported the war in Ukraine and whether they had any connection to their country’s armed forces.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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