International Olympic Committee says it was victim of Russian prank calls

BERLIN : International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach was a victim of Russian prank calls, the IOC said on Thursday, as relations between the Olympic body and Russia quickly deteriorate following a Paris Olympics parade ban for their athletes over the war in Ukraine.

The IOC said there had been fake calls made to the Olympic body and its president, with the callers presenting themselves as representatives of the African Union Commission and wanting to discuss the situation with Russia.

"There appears to have been a new incident in the Russian disinformation and defamation campaign against the International Olympic Committee and its President," the IOC said in a statement.

"Fake calls purporting to be from the African Union Commission appear to have been made by the very same group that has already attacked a number of global political leaders and other high-ranking personalities in the same way."

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in September had spoken of international fatigue with the conflict in Ukraine in a phone call with Russian pranksters, who have duped other Western politicians and celebrities in an effort to elicit frank, unguarded remarks.

"During the calls, a person pretending to be the Chair of the African Union Commission wanted to have arguments in particular from the IOC against the politicisation of sport by the Russian government, in order to prepare a statement against such politicisation," the IOC said.

It did not provide details of the conversations or say how many calls had been made.

On Tuesday, the IOC announced a ban on Russian and Belarusian athletes from the Paris Games opening ceremony parade, due to the war in Ukraine.

That prompted a sharp response from Moscow, with Kremlin