BUDAPEST \u2014 <\/strong>The International Olympic Committee (IOC) should start work on ending Russia's suspension from the organization \"the minute\" Moscow obeys the rules again, IOC vice president Juan Antonio Samaranch Junior said on Tuesday.<\/p>\r\r
The 64-year-old Spaniard, whose father of the same name was IOC president from 1980-2001 and transformed it into a commercial powerhouse, is one of the seven candidates vying to succeed current IOC leader Thomas Bach.<\/p>\r\r
The Russian Olympic Committee (NOC) is \"today still in clear and flagrant breach of the Olympic Charter by taking over responsibilities of a fellow national Olympic committee in certain territories,\" Samaranch told Agence France-Presse (AFP) in Budapest on the sidelines of a conference.<\/p>\r\r
The IOC had excluded the NOC after it had placed several sports organizations from occupied Ukrainian regions under its authority.<\/p>\r\r
\"The minute the reasons for suspension and nonrecognition disappear, we have the obligation to start working very hard to bring them back,\" said Samaranch.<\/p>\r\r
He stressed that Russia had not been suspended for invading Ukraine, but \"because it had not respected the Olympic truce\" by starting the war in 2022, just as the Beijing Olympics ended and before the Paralympic Games.<\/p>\r\r
\"We didn't take sides... The minute we take sides, you are excluding the other side, a part of the world,\" Samaranch said.<\/p>\r\r
He promised to fight for the Olympic movement's \"independence and universality\" without which the IOC \"would not serve\" its purpose to \"unite despite differences, despite controversies, despite fights, despite war.\"<\/p>","article_custom_fields":"{\"\":[\"\"],\"seo_meta_keywords\":[\"\"],\"seo_meta_description\":[\"\"],\"seo_meta_title\":[\"\"],\"sponsored_flag\":[\"\"],\"offer_flag\":[\"off\"],\"featured_article_flag\":[\"\"],\"drupal_json\":[\"{\\\"type\\\":null,\\\"properties\\\":{\\\"PUBLISHED\\\":0,\\\"PROMOTED\\\":0,\\\"STICKY\\\":0},\\\"fields\\\":[]}\"],\"wp_custom_json\":[\"{\\\"type\\\":\\\"\\\",\\\"fields\\\":[]}\"],\"article_tags\":[\"\"],\"show_image\":[\"off\"],\"Disable_Ad\":[\"off\"],\"disable_player\":[\"off\"],\"column\":[\"\"],\"kicker\":[\"\"],\"edel\":[\"\"],\"delu\":[\"\"],\"delt\":[\"Read this in The Manila Times digital edition.\"],\"premium\":[\"off\"],\"Redirect_URL\":[\"\"],\"Registration_required\":[\"off\"],\"background_image\":[\"off\"],\"page_number\":\"0\",\"initial_publication\":\"\",\"date_created\":\"2024-09-25 22:47:13\",\"date_modified\":\"2024-09-25 22:47:41\",\"last_modified_user\":\"Sherwin Arnaiz\",\"section_color\":\"#08F304\",\"target_page\":\"0\",\"cxense_metatags\":null}","cms_type":"live","author_id":102,"section_id":3,"seo_meta_keywords":"Samaranch:,IOC,should,reinstate,Russia","seo_meta_description":"","seo_meta_title":"Samaranch: IOC should reinstate Russia","publish_time":"2024-09-26 00:05:00","related_articles_ids":"","article_tags":"","sub_section_id":0,"visit_count":10,"sponsored_flag":0,"offer_flag":0,"featured_article_flag":0,"media_gallery_flag":0,"video_gallery_flag":0,"highlight_flag":0,"top_story_flag":0,"is_updated":0,"is_old_article":0,"old_article_id":0,"article_byline":"Agence France-Presse","ts":"2024-09-26 19:51:02","last_edited":"2024-09-25 22:47:41","alt_publish_time":"2024-09-25 22:47:49","image_path":null,"author_name":"Agence France-Presse","section_name":"Sports","sub_section_name":"","slide_show":0,"breaking_news":0,"visit_count_update_date":"2024-09-26 19:51:02","old_cms_article_id":null,"permalink":"2024\/09\/26\/sports\/samaranch-ioc-should-reinstate-russia\/1974137","show_image_in_thumb":0,"api_status":2,"a_custom_data":"{\"exclude_from_gallery\":null,\"lead_image_id\":null}","publication_id":2,"max_publish_time":"2024-09-26 00:05:00","page_number":"0","homepage_article_flag":0,"article_shortlink":null,"cropped_image":0};
BUDAPEST — The International Olympic Committee (IOC) should start work on ending Russia's suspension from the organization "the minute" Moscow obeys the rules again, IOC vice president Juan Antonio Samaranch Junior said on Tuesday.
The 64-year-old Spaniard, whose father of the same name was IOC president from 1980-2001 and transformed it into a commercial powerhouse, is one of the seven candidates vying to succeed current IOC leader Thomas Bach.
