Russia is Not as Alone as IOC Wants Her to Be: Other Countries Outraged by Conduct Towards Athletes
The website of the Russian Olympic Committee published the list of athletes admitted to the PyeongChang Olympics. It has 169 names. The list was approved by the IOC. They did everything to prevent Russia from getting too many medals. The strongest athletes were excluded from the list even though they had nothing to do with the doping controversy. It's worth pointing out that all leaders of all major Winter Sports Federations stood up for Russia. They wrote a letter to the IOC demanding an explanation of their unfair punishment.
Alexey Konopko will tell us about the reaction of the Russian Olympic Committee on the decision of the IOC.
The shortlist won't become any bigger. It only includes every third name from the initial list of 500 athletes.
Stanislav Pozdnyakov, Russian Olympic Committee: "The list includes 169 athletes. Unfortunately, our strongest athletes didn't make it to the list. During the last two days, we tried to persuade the IOC but they were adamant. Those 169 athletes will represent our country at the PyeongChang Olympics even though they'll be called "Olympic athletes from Russia".
After the new wave of controversy, those who didn't have a chance to go to the Olympics weren't replaced by young athletes or reservists because it was considered unjust. The top-athletes fought fairly for their right to participate in the Games. It's not their fault that they got banned. Even though the global sports community abides the same rules our athletes weren't banned from any other contests. Perhaps the IOC officials have their own approach. Those who will stay in Russia will take part in an alternative contest to make their training count.
Pavel Kolobkov, Minister of Sports: "We'll invite foreign athletes as well. The time frame is being coordinated with our Federations. Currently, we're working on some technical details. We believe that our athletes must get the necessary practice. Many of them are training now and are in a really good physical shape. They'll take part in some special tournaments especially in those disciplines the masters of which were banned from the Olympics".
The IOC has still not shared any athlete-specific comments. They published a list of 17 general admission requirements including the absurd ones including any kind of information from WADA on certain athletes meaning there's no equality or presumption of innocence which stand in item 44 of the Olympic Movement Charter. This approach was criticized by some foreign Sports Federations. Moreover, the prestige of being an Olympic Champion without defeating any strong contestants falls dramatically.
Pavel Kolobkov: "I won't call out the names, but we have the support of some Sports Federations. We're communicating with the representatives of many countries. South Korea, the host of the event, supports the Russian team and the Russian athletes. They are looking forward to seeing us and they'll be cheering for us".
The ROC confirmed the fact that the Russian fans will be able to wave our flags from the stands. The IOC pointed out that only political actions are forbidden which is weird because they have always been.
Alexey Konopko, Andrey Potapov Evgeny Tarasov, and German Makiyenko Vesti.
The hockey players of St. Petersburg SKA Ilya Kovalchuk and Pavel Datsyuk were admitted to the Olympics. The list was announced live on our channel. The total number of admitted players is 25: 15 from SKA 8 from CSKA and 2 from Metallurg. The Olympic hockey tournament will take place from February 14 to 25. The Russian team will be playing in the B group against the teams of Slovakia, Slovenia, and the US.
Vladislav Tretyak, President of Russian Hockey Federation: "You can't have an all-star team. There are attackers, defenders, you know. The main objective of the first echelon is to score goals. And there are some players that only play short-handed. They must not miss a goal. The positioning and composition of the team are crucially important. Our coaching staff is experienced. For the first time in two years, we're employing sports analysts. We've got everything that's needed to stabilize the composition of the Olympic team".