Games-Russia Olympic boss says Asian Games exclusion 'unacceptable'

HANGZHOU, China : Russia's Olympic chief has criticised Asian Games organisers for rowing back on a decision to allow athletes from Russia and Belarus to compete at the multi-sport event in Hangzhou, China.

The Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) voted in July to allow up to 500 Russian and Belarusian athletes at the Games but the International Olympic Committee (IOC) confirmed in early-September that the nations would not participate due to "technical" reasons.

Russian Olympic Committee President Stanislav Pozdnyakov said his body had been waiting for specifics about their athletes' participation but was "stonewalled" by organisers.

"From the point of view of diplomacy, I think that such things are simply unacceptable; they did not even inform us that they reconsidered their decision to invite us," he said in comments published by Russia's TASS news agency.

Russian and Belarusian athletes have been largely banned from international competition since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Acting OCA president Randhir Singh told reporters this week at the Hangzhou Games that Russian and Belarusian athletes would have been welcome but the "logistics" could not be worked out.

Pozdnyakov questioned that logistics were the problem.

"The Games are being held in China, relations between our countries would have removed all security issues and the geographical closeness excludes any logistics issues," he said.

Russians are facing the likelihood of having to compete under a neutral flag in the Paris Olympics in 2024 because of the invasion of Ukraine, which Russia calls a special military operation.

The IOC has taken no final decision but said athletes should not be punished for the acts of their governments.