The IOC's decision on Israeli athletes may help the ROC

The refusal of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to ban Israel from international tournaments may help Russian athletes, in particular the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC). This was announced on September 18 by Olympic speed skating champion and State Duma deputy Svetlana Zhurova.

"Can we say that the refusal to suspend Israel and Palestine may play into our hands at the next executive committee? After all, if others are not suspended, then perhaps we will also be reinstated," the athlete said in an interview with RIA Novosti.

It is clarified that Zhurova accused the IOC of double standards, while emphasizing that Russian athletes did not violate the Olympic Charter.

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Earlier in the day, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) explained its decision not to suspend athletes from Israel by saying that they peacefully coexist with competitors from Palestine.

On July 15, Mikhail Degtyarev, Minister of Sports of the Russian Federation and head of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC), said that Russia's relations with international sports federations were warming to varying degrees, and negotiations were continuing with them. According to him, the first priority is the return of Russian athletes to the global sports scene.

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