It is high time now to dissolve the IAAF, Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko
told the TASS news agency, commenting on the international athletic federation’s decision to reject applications from all Russian athletes for participation in international competitions, including in the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, except for long jumper Darya Klishina.
“In my opinion, it was complicated to expect anything different from them,” the minister said. “It does not surprise me, though it disappoints. They are outside the legal sphere. It is high time to dissolve that organization. They have already taken themselves into a deadlock. This is anything else now but sports. Athletes nowadays are deprived of freedom.”
According to Mutko, IAAF has made a shameful decision, and actions of that organization are similar to Bacchanalia. “For decades people have been giving their lives to sports, and IAAF was earning revenues on them, sold commercial rights, and now this is how it behaves,” he said. “I am ashamed for them, this is not at all a sports organization.”
This story first appeared in the blog, The Sport Intern. The editor is Karl-Heinz Huba of Lorsch, Germany. He can be reached at ISMG@aol.com. The article is reprinted here with permission of Huba.