http://tass.ru/sport/4789890
Translation by mojo
Nizhni Novgorod, 6 December. TASS - Russian Federation authorities will not block the participation of Russian athletes in the 2018 Olympics in Pyeonchang, where they will have neutral status. RF president Vladimir Putin announced this on Wednesday.
"Without any doubt, we shall not announce any blockades, shall not create barriers for our Olympians to take part, if some of them want to participate personally," said the head of state during fellowship time with workers at the Gorki auto plant.
Putin placed attention to the point that many athletes, including those he knows personally, "have been preparing for this competition for the whole of their lives. They have been getting ready for these starts for their whole careers and for them it is very important. For these reasons, we, of course, will not forbid anybody from anything, not block anybody from anything or create conditions that make participation impossible," emphasized the head of state.
He added, that "we need to learn all the fine details of these decisions, to become acquainted with what is in the paperwork and know them in full detail. The final decision, of course, should be made by the Olympic meeting", concluded the president, noting that the event will take place within days.
Putin thinks that Russia itself gave a reason for the decision of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to ban the Russian Federation Olympic Team from participating, but that it was taken advantage of in a not completely honest way.
"First of all, it's important say directly that we are partially guilty because we gave a reason for this. But secondly, I think that this reason was used in not the most honest of ways, generously speaking," he said while answering the question of what will happen to Russian Olympians.
Putin clarified that "not the most honest" part of the decision is that the principle of collective responsibility was utilized. "No judicial system in the world foresees the use of collective responsibility," he noted.
The president noted that he is "very concerned" for Russian Olympic athletes as a result of the IOC decision.
"I also am concerned for the guys, some of them are not just my acquaintances, but I consider them my friends and I am very concerned for them. Each of them must make some kind of decision," said Putin. At the same time he noted that unlike other athletes, Russians "will be checked thrice. What does that mean? And how will it be organized?" asked the RF president.
The head of state noted that at the previous Olympics one of the Russian wrestlers was tested right before going out on the mat, waking him up at night.
In the end he won, but then passed out. "How will it be done, how will it be organized, this is what we do not know," said Putin. Moreover, according to his words, the Russian side doesn't know how the team events will be organized. "What kind of symbols will be used? This is also not such a happy question," Putin said. According to him, a number of questions arise from this situation.
"In the end, athletes must make the decision, each of them has to make it for himself or herself - both teams and individuals, who will compete and how," noted the head of state.
