Russia’s Foreign Ministry has spoken out against attempts by other countries to influence the activities of international sporting bodies, like the IOC or FIFA, as well as boycotting international events for political reasons.
The comments came in a statement dedicated to the “Resolution
on promoting human rights through sport and the Olympic
ideal,” which was adopted by the UN Human Rights Council on
September 25.
The ministry stressed that the adoption of the resolution, which
Russia introduced, “is a clear indication of the unifying
potential of sports that shouldn’t serve as an instrument of
political influence in international relations.”
Moscow has labeled the practice of boycotting international
sporting events under a political pretext as “unjustified and
harmful.”
"The attempts to interfere in the activities of international
sports organizations such as the International Olympic Committee,
FIFA and others are also unacceptable,” the statement read.
The Foreign Ministry has urged the international community to
“hold international sporting events in the spirit of
cooperation, mutual understanding, tolerance and reject all forms
of discrimination.”
According to Reuters, EU countries met in early September to
discuss a possible boycott of the FIFA World Cup 2018 in Russia
as part of sanctions against Moscow over its alleged actions in
Ukraine.
In April, two US senators tried to kick Russia out of the 2014
World Cup in Brazil, after the reunion with the Republic of
Crimea, and also asked FIFA to take the 2018 tournament away from
Russia.
However, FIFA boss, Sepp Blatter, stressed that football’s
governing body “isn’t placing any questions over the World
Cup in Russia," as “sanctions never achieved
anything.”
There were also calls to boycott the Olympic Games in the Black
Sea resort of Sochi due to the law banning gay propaganda to
minors introduced in Russia, but they were never materialized.