Rio 2016: Vladimir Putin Says Olympics ‘Less of a Spectacle’ Without Russians

Moscow, 23 Syawwal 1437/28 July 2016 (MINA) – Russian President Vladimir Putin says medals won at Rio 2016 will be devalued by the banning of Russian competitors, bbc.com reported..

There have been 108 Russians banned from next month’s Olympics so far, including 67 out of 68 from the athletics team.

Putin said there was a “deliberate campaign targeting our athletes”.

“The other sportsmen understand that the quality of their medals will be different,” he told the Russian Olympic team at the Kremlin in Moscow.

Putin, who said the Games would be “less of a spectacle” as a result of the bans, said the “campaign” he alleged “was characterised by so-called double standards and opted for the idea of collective responsibility, which is not compatible with sport, justice in general, or the basic norms of law”.

Russia’s fencing, volleyball, triathlon and table tennis squads are the latest to have been cleared to compete at the Rio Games, which begin on 5 August.

Governing bodies are making rulings on whether Russian athletes can take part following the damning World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) report into state-sponsored doping in the country.

Russia had hoped to send 387 athletes to Rio.

On Wednesday, the country’s Olympic Committee chief Alexander Zhukov told Rossiya-24 that, despite the suspensions, more than 250 are still set to go. (T/R07/R01)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)