President of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) Stanislav Pozdnyakov has vowed to do everything in his power to allow Russian athletes to compete under the national flag despite the ban imposed by WADA on the country.
On Monday, the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA) Executive Committee unanimously voted to hand a four-year ban to Russia, prohibiting the country from taking part in and hosting international sporting events, for alleged manipulations of doping data retrieved from a Moscow laboratory.
The newly-imposed sanctions allow clean Russian athletes who have never been implicated in doping scandals to compete as neutral athletes, without national flag and anthem.
The four-time Olympic champion Pozdnyakov called WADA’s restrictions “inadequate and illogical,” underlining that Russian authorities will fight for the right of the athletes to compete under the national flag.
Also on rt.com ‘Rodchenkov’s data is illegal, how can you take it as authentic?’ – Russian Sports Minister“We are convinced that Russian athletes should go to the Tokyo Games being a part of the team selected by the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC), as it is mentioned in the Olympic Charter,” Pozdnyakov said.
“And we will do everything in our power to allow the athletes to compete under the national flag in Japan, as it is written in the Olympic Charter.
"WADA’s recommendations and final report don’t contain any [doping] accusations addressed to the ROC or Russian Paralympic Committee [RPK]. Despite this, rulings of the WADA Executive Committee infringe on the rights of the Russian sports organizations,” he added.