"The entire Global South has united in support of our athletes"

Mikhail Degtyarev, Minister of Sports and Head of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC), told Izvestia at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum about how the chances of our athletes to participate in international competitions are gradually returning, how Russia is supported by the Global South in the sports agenda, and what else is required for domestic sports.

"Past relations with the IOC are a list that we have turned over"

— How do you assess the chances of our athletes at the upcoming Olympic Games, the Winter Olympics?

— It's 2026, Milan. Ski climbers are already being selected, and figure skaters and speed skaters will be in the near future. Other sports are still difficult: skiing, biathlon, hockey, well-known cases, difficult in terms of the Scandinavian lobby. We are continuing our work, but most likely our guys have lost the chance to qualify. It may be possible to get some individual licenses in international negotiations before February, but not in large numbers.

I've already talked about this.: we will be presented, but in a truncated format. But by 2028, for the Summer Games in Los Angeles, we are fully preparing and doing everything for this.

— We see that the work is underway and there are certain results. For example, the sanctions were lifted from you...

— This has nothing to do with our athletes. Here we need to say "thank you" to the Hungarians: they stuck their heads up and the sanctions were indeed lifted. It made sports diplomacy and the opportunity to meet in Europe easier for me.

— Is it possible for Russians to participate in international competitions in the near future?

— It is possible. As I have already said, the first step should be to recognize the Olympic Committee [of Russia]. Our dossier is now in the IOC Legal commission. This is the decision of the president of the organization, Kirsty Coventry, and I thanked her for it. Because we have gone through a herculean legal journey to remove all contradictions and to ensure that our charter and organization comply with the charter.

Comrade Bach (Thomas Bach, former head of the IOC — Ed.) misled the whole world, saying that the ball was on Russia's side and inventing all sorts of insinuations. In general, Bach took an anti-Russian and Russophobic position, which was very unfair. We have turned over this leaf, thank God, as well as the whole world of sports.

Kirsty Coventry is a former Zimbabwean sports minister, Olympic champion, and excellent manager. She immediately took the dossier and handed it to the lawyer. Please, your verdict: if it's positive, and it can't be anything but positive, I can say that as a lawyer, and our Swiss lawyers confirm this, then the IOC Executive Committee should restore our rights to the ROC. This is the first step.

The second step is to ease the requirements and repeal the IOC recommendation not to allow Russian athletes to fly the flag. Without the first, the second is impossible.

So that you understand, you can call for the axe as much as you want, so to speak, and give a billion interviews, but without restoring the OCD, the national team cannot compete under the flag, so everything is going according to plan so far.

— About the flag. Are those athletes who are not allowed to compete under the flag arguing about this?

—There's nothing to argue about. Our athletes were stripped of the flag, but they did not refuse. Those who went abroad refused, abandoning their Russian passport and ignoring their roots, and now they are trying to achieve something there. In my understanding, they violated all ethical norms.

Our guys, who have now returned from Singapore, are not giving up anything. They arrived and brought the medals home. For example, world champions Kliment Kolesnikov and Pavel Samusenko. They glorify Russia, they love Russia. But they were stripped of their flag, so there is no ethical dilemma here, although all sorts of comrades tried to inflate it.

But if you dig into the biographies of those who opposed athletes and their choice in favor of sports and protecting the interests of Russia, you can find something in their biographies that they should keep quiet. And they've basically already fallen silent this year.

I have taken responsibility for this course before the people, the president and our sports community, and I thank our head of state, Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, for this trust.

"The entire global South has united in support of our"

— Now, those who are far from politics are following the warming of our relations [with the United States], the meeting in Alaska...

- yes. Of course, this is the world's mainstream. Our president is the most influential politician in the world, on planet Earth today. Without exaggeration.

— We are seeing a warming in diplomatic relations now. Will it be possible to change something in terms of sports?

— Of course, this [warming] is affecting. Our president pays a lot of attention in the international arena not only to the protection of the interests of Russia and our people in general, but also to sports. We know this, and we thank him.

For example, the SCO countries met in Tianjin. Of the 14 documents, including the Declaration, six mention sport in the context of restoring athlete rights, equality of all, competition, and the inadmissibility of discrimination based on nationality.

The entire Global South has united in support of ours. This is the merit of our president. And our task is to develop all his initiatives at the level of meetings with the presidents of the committees and achieve the necessary solutions. We are doing this — it is our responsibility. Of course, global politics is influencing. "Sport is out of politics" is still a slogan. We are probably the only ones who follow it. As you can see, discrimination takes place in world sports. But we're fighting it, and I'm sure we'll win.

— Do you feel this thaw?

— From the first days. Why did I start promoting this topic from the very first days? Because in informal communication, absolutely all my international counterparts, including from Europe, speak: "We are waiting for Russia, we want to be together at the competition."

Sport is a competitive environment, and our absence from competitions leads to lower results and lower pay. In Scandinavia, cross-country skiing and biathlons are losing sponsors and viewership because there are no Russians. No one needs to watch Norwegians compete with each other for nothing, no one is interested in this.

I felt this and began to develop the sports agenda at the diplomatic level. I want to thank the Russian Foreign Ministry — Sergey Viktorovich Lavrov is definitely helping. On the legal side, the Prosecutor General's Office provides great assistance in international affairs.: we coordinate our positions, they help us. Of course, the head of state, the president, constantly reacts and supports us, for which we always thank him.

"The investor called himself an investor in a non—profit organization, then killed the club - this is a confession if he is an investor"

— I would like to touch upon the scandals in Russian football...

— There are problems. The reason is the management model. We will talk about this on September 9 in Moscow, at the Ministry of Sports.

At the big meeting — I'm bringing everyone together — there will be the presidents of the RPS, Alexander Valeryevich Dyukov, the entire leadership of the RPL and all 16 clubs will also be represented at the level of shareholders or presidents. There will be a detailed conversation, in fact, to discuss the limit on foreign players and chronic issues.

They affect athletic performance — let's take Khimki or Torpedo — and it annoys people. Sport has a huge social energy, sport is a social sphere and has an impact on millions of people.

To say: "I'm a shareholder, I decided to kill the club, let people go around the world, leave the team, leave salary arrears.".. That won't do. The law enforcement system will crush such comrades according to the law. But we're taking a broader view.: how to avoid this. The agenda includes the limit [for foreign players], possible salary ceilings, and the organizational and legal forms of the club. Today, our clubs include associations, non—profit partnerships, joint-stock companies, and autonomous non-profit organizations... The devil will break my leg. The investor identified himself as an investor in a non-profit organization, then killed the club. This is a confession if he is an investor in a non—profit organization. So, he went there to withdraw or raise money, but how can a non—profit organization make a profit if its charter says that public activity is non-profit? This is wildness, and it was considered the norm, that is, the journalists quoted the investor. There's a lot to talk about.

We will discuss the children's football development fund. There are some countries that add money, so-called "allowances", to the fund for exceeding the limit of legionnaires. If you have a burning desire to spend 30 million yandex units for a Brazilian, that's fine, but you'll put the same amount into the fund for the development of Russian young football players. Maybe the desire will disappear and you will take our Russian for ten million?

That's what we're going to discuss: how to continue living. Like today, you can't go any further. I say this as the Minister of Sports, who is responsible for the development of the industry before the president.

— Has the story of the Wings of the Soviets been continued?

— This is a law enforcement issue. Vyacheslav Fedorishchev is an energetic man. He received the data and immediately stated that the development [of this issue] is more in the law enforcement sphere.

The fact that he said that is an additional signal to all of us that something is wrong. Sports refereeing will need to be discussed not only with football players. It excites society: people want to watch honest fights. The ideology of sports is fair competition. If people have doubts, fans in particular, it kills sports and the influx of children's and university sports schools. This is killing the audience and the sponsorship contract, so fair judging and its organization are also on the agenda.

— What about the salary cap?

— Possible ceiling, no planting. We will discuss this at the expert level. The target is "five in the field — ten in the application." This is for 2028. In three years, everyone will be able to calmly prepare, get rid of the ballast in the form of a contract with those who do not show themselves on the field among foreigners, and look after young football players here.

The logic is this: the state says that in three years we will have "ten by five." So, those who have more than five should choose our Russian guy, an asterisk for each legionnaire's place. A good manager of a football club should do this in three years or start raising this guy in his academy, immediately contract him so that he does not go abroad. The legal document confirms that he is comfortable, his family's life is provided for.

We immediately begin the following actions — legal, organizational, financial, purely sporting.

And if we don't do that, what will happen? The guy was brought up — he went abroad, and someone from abroad took his place. Why are we doing this? I'm in favor of competition, but it's regulated and healthy.

"Fans should have the right to drink beer"

— When will beer finally appear in stadiums?

"I'm not a prude or a hypocrite. I think fans should have the right to drink beer. They'll drink it anyway, either before or after the match, leaving the money somewhere else.

My task as Minister of Sports is to ensure the attraction of funds to the industry, to ensure the functioning of stadiums and the entire sports infrastructure. I have no right to leave such a flow of money to the stalls.

I'll answer the ethical questions right away: beer is for the fan. They have nothing to do with formal sports and a healthy lifestyle. Fans are subjects of sports, not athletes. They go to the spectacle, they can go to the theater, to the museum, or they can go to the stadium.

In the philharmonic hall and in the theater, you can even drink strong alcohol in the buffet. We are not afraid of our theatergoers when they sit at the premiere and listen well after going to the buffet. The worse our own people who come to the spectacle, to the stadium. I think it's possible. We don't need to be afraid of our people. They must be respected. And those who say that our people are not the same... This is racism. It's just an ugly, sanctimonious attitude. This is the opinion of the Minister of Sports Degtyarev. But it's too early to talk about dates yet.

"We are preparing our boys and girls"

— You have just returned from a big trip to China. What was discussed in the context of sports? Are there any solutions?

— First of all, the Russian-Chinese Youth Games. They will be held in Kaliningrad in 2026. A large delegation from China is coming. Accordingly, we train our boys and girls, and this format is developing.

The leaders of the SCO countries have agreed that we and the SCO Games and Sports Cup formats of the SCO countries are developing and creating an Association of Sports Organizations of the SCO countries. This is also in the solution, so the work is very extensive.