Mamiashvili: “We have gone this way to the end to show the world community that the root of evil is the IOC leadership”

The President of the Russian Wrestling Federation (RWF) Mikhail Mamiashvili told Match TV that the failure to allow leading Russian wrestlers to participate in the Olympic Games indicates that the leadership of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) is ready to carry out a political order.

Earlier, the FSBR reported that Russian wrestlers who had received an invitation from the IOC refused to compete at the Olympics in Paris. The Federation stated that it “does not accept the unsportsmanlike selection principle that the IOC was guided by when forming the list of admitted athletes, the purpose of which is to undermine the principle of team unity.” The list of wrestlers to whom the IOC assigned neutral status did not include many of the strongest athletes, including Olympic champions Abdulrashid Sadulaev, Zaurbek Sidakov, and Musa Yevloyev.

— We have gone all the way to show the world community that the root of evil is the IOC leadership. No matter how we are selected, no matter what thorns we go through, the IOC will still fulfill a political order. It will not allow us, and if it does allow us, it will be the way they need — fifth, tenth, young men, juniors, so that there is no thought of the possibility of domination.

This is the best team in the world! Imagine what they are constructing? Rhythmic gymnastics without Viner, synchronized swimming without Pokrovskaya. Wrestling without Sadulaev, you can list names for a long time, give examples. These names are fundamentally historically inscribed in the world history of sports. Now the direct road in the absence of our leaders to whom? Homosexuals, transvestites and other evil spirits, – Mamiashvili told Match TV.

In February 2022, the IOC recommended that sports federations not allow Russians and Belarusians to participate in international tournaments. The recommendations were later relaxed, and in December 2023, IOC President Thomas Bach announced that the organization would allow Russian and Belarusian athletes who successfully passed the selection to participate in the 2024 Summer Games in an individual neutral status. Compliance with the selection criteria is confirmed by a special IOC commission.

The Games in Paris will be held from July 26 to August 11.

• Mamiashvili on Russian wrestlers’ refusal to participate in the Olympics: “We waited until the very end for the IOC to follow the path of common sense”
• Mamiashvili: “The bunch of scoundrels that now head the IOC are destroying world sport”
• “This is unfair competition, discriminatory measures.” Sports Minister Degtyarev on the IOC decision not to allow the strongest judokas to the Olympics