(Reuters) – Russian Sports Minister Mikhail Degtyarev, tipped to fill the vacant position of the country’s Olympic chief, called on Thursday for improved ties and an end to polemics with the International Olympic Committee.
Degtyarev spoke at a top-level sports meeting, attended by Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin, days after the resignation of the head of the National Olympic Committee, Stanislav Pozdnyakov, who cited the need for change in view of the “geopolitical challenges” facing Russian sport.
“Returning to the Olympic movement in accordance with the contributions of Russian and Soviet sport. And restoring the rights of our athletes — this is the policy we will stick to,” Russian news agencies quoted Degtyarev as telling reporters.
“There is every reason to say there is readiness for dialogue, including, unofficially, with IOC members. We need to maintain dialogue without insulting each other or shaking our fists.”
Russia, and the Soviet Union before it, were top medal contenders at summer and winter Olympics for decades. Russia, however, was banned from competing as a team at this year’s Paris Games because of the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine.
Only a handful of athletes took part as “neutrals”, subject to vetting by the IOC to ensure they had not supported the invasion or maintained links with the military.
Russian officials denounced as discriminatory the ban, which also applied to athletes from Belarus, a close ally of Moscow which allowed the Kremlin to use its territory in the invasion.
TASS news agency said Degtyarev was nominated for the post by Russian Tennis Federation head Shamil Tarpishchev at a meeting of the Russian President’s Council for the Development of Physical Culture and Sport in the central city of Ufa.
It said Putin noted that his candidature “deserved the most careful consideration”.
(Reporting by Ronald Popeski, editing by Ed Osmond)