IOC says Russia’s accusation of ‘racism and neo-Nazism’ is a ‘new low’

Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that IOC has slipped into racism and neo-Nazism after it barred Russian athletes from taking part in the opening ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics.

FILE PHOTO: The Olympic rings are seen outside the headquarters of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in Lausanne. | Photo Credit: AFP

Moscow’s criticism of Olympic restrictions on Russian athletes was beyond unacceptable and had reached a “new low”, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said on Wednesday.

“It goes beyond anything that is acceptable. To link the president (Germany’s Thomas Bach), his nationality and the Holocaust in the context of this issue reaches a new low,” IOC spokesman Mark Adams said.

The IOC on Tuesday barred Russian athletes from taking part in the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympics on July 26 and criticised the Kremlin for planning to hold its own “Friendship Games” to rival those held in the French capital.

Those decisions invoked the ire of the Kremlin, with Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova saying that they “demonstrate how far the IOC has moved away from its stated principles and slipped into racism and neo-Nazism”.

When Bach was asked about the comments, the German gave a curt reply before asking spokesman Adams to take over.

There are “more quotes coming from Russia that are extremely aggressive and since some of them are very personal also, if you allow I would like to ask Mark Adams to respond to this question”, Bach said.

Adams added, “We’ve seen some very aggressive statements coming out of Russia today, but there’s one comment even which is going beyond that, we’ve even seen one that links the president, his nationality and the Holocaust, and this is completely unacceptable and reaches a new low.”