Beijing 2022: diplomatic boycott slammed by Russian Olympic chief Stanislav Pozdnyakov, who says it is ‘senseless’ and ‘ruins integrity’ of the Games

Pozdnyakov says sport must be distanced from complex political issues after Joe Biden admits such an action is being considered

Valentina Matviyenko hits out at parliamentary counterparts from other countries, with politicians in Canada and Norway among those seeking a total boycott of the Games

2-MIN READ2-MIN

Dancers perform at the National Aquatics Centre in Beijing to celebrate the 100-day countdown to the Winter Games in February. Photo: Reuters

Published: 11:31am, 25 Nov 2021Updated: 11:53am, 25 Nov 2021

The head of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) has hit out at countries mulling a diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Beijing Winter Games, saying such actions are “senseless” and destroys the sport’s integrity, according to a report by Tass.

The Russian news agency quoted ROC President Stanislav Pozdnyakov as saying sport must be kept at a distance from complex political issues, with his statement coming a day after Russia’s upper house parliament speaker, Valentina Matviyenko, slammed politicians calling for a boycott of the Beijing Games.

“Neither I personally, nor my colleagues are in favour of such political boycotts because they are ruining the integrity of the Olympic Games,” Tass quoted Pozdnyakov as saying. “Such political boycotts are absolutely senseless from the stance of sports.

“We believe that sports must be distanced as much as possible from complicated political issues.”

US President Joe Biden said last week he was considering a diplomatic boycott of Beijing 2022, in which state officials including the president would refuse to attend the opening ceremony on February 4 over what they believe to be China’s human rights violations.

On Thursday, The Sydney Morning Herald reported that Australian politicians from the ruling Liberal-National coalition and the opposition Labor party were urging the federal government to boycott the event, without citing a source.