Russia regrets the decision of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) banning its athletes from flying the flag and using the Russian anthem in international competitions. This was announced on Thursday, December 24, at a briefing by the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova.
“Our athletes were deprived of the right to compete at the World Championships, Olympics and Paralympics for two years. The Russian anthem cannot be used during the competition for the duration of the sanctions. We regret this court decision, ”Zakharova said.
She added that the court did not fully take into account the arguments of the Russian side.
In December 2019, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) recognized RUSADA as not complying with the anti-doping code and suspended Russia for four years from all major competitions, including the Olympic Games and World Championships. Later, the supervisory board of RUSADA recommended that the board of founders disagree with the WADA sanctions, stating the need to transfer the case to CAS in Lausanne.
In January 2020, WADA applied to CAS to resolve a dispute with RUSADA on the issue of sanctions against Russian athletes.
CAS on December 17, 2020 decided that Russian athletes will not be able to compete under the country’s flag at major international competitions until December 16, 2022.
Valery Ryazansky, the first deputy head of the Federation Council Committee on Social Policy, considered the CAS decision politicized and punishing the entire country.
The head of the State Duma Committee on Nationalities Affairs, former head coach of the Russian national football team Valery Gazzayev noted that the CAS decision was dictated by the desire to eliminate Russia as the main competitor in the world championships.
Press Secretary of the Russian President Dmitry Peskov said that the Kremlin regrets the CAS decision to ban Russian athletes from competing under the country’s flag at major international competitions for two years.