Degtyarev spoke about the expectation of the Europeans for the return of Russian sports

Contacts between Russia and the United States in Alaska, as well as warming relations with Washington, may lead to the removal of obstacles for Russian athletes. Mikhail Degtyarev, Minister of Sports and head of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC), said this in the Izvestia studio at the Eastern Economic Forum 2025 (WEF 2025) on September 4, noting that Europe is very much waiting for the return of athletes from the Russian Federation.

"Of course, it affects. Our president [Vladimir Putin], he pays a lot of attention in the international arena not only to the protection of the interests of Russia and our people, but also to sports. We know this, and we thank him," he replied to a question about the impact of diplomatic relations between the two countries on sports.

According to Degtyarev, following the results of the summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in Tianjin, six documents were signed where sport is mentioned in the context of restoring athletes' rights, equality, competition, and the inadmissibility of discrimination. He added that the entire Global South has united in support of Russian athletes.

"Sports outside politics is still a slogan. We're probably the only ones who follow it. But in world sports, as you can see, discrimination takes place. But we are fighting against it and we will surely win," the minister stressed.

He also noted that in informal communication, all international counterparts, including from Europe, say that they are very much looking forward to Russia at the competition.

"Sport is a competitive environment. And the absence of our [athletes] at competitions leads to lower results and lower salaries. In general, ski racing and biathlon in Scandinavia are losing sponsors and viewership. Why? There are no Russians. No one needs to watch it for nothing, there's how Norwegians compete with each other," added the head of the ROC.

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Neutral athletes from Russia have returned to the main non-Olympic tournament and are showing good results.

Also on this day, Degtyarev expressed confidence that the Russian national team will participate in the Olympic Games in 2028 in Los Angeles in its entirety. The minister added that for Russians to speak at the Olympic Games under the flag, legal recognition of the ROC is necessary, the dossier is currently under consideration by the legal commission of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

All important news is on the Izvestia channel in the MAX messenger.