Azerbaijani NOC head criticises politicising sports

“We cannot turn a blind eye to injustice. Separate athletes from sports. If we evaluate what is happening as a professional athlete, then the removal of Russia from the Olympics is a blow to competition in sports. Russian athletes have always entered into worthy competition with the world's strongest teams, including the United States . Russia and the United States have always been at the Olympics like Messi and Ronaldo in football,” Isaev said.

At the end of February 2022, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) issued an appeal to international sports federations and recommended that they not allow Russian and Belarusian athletes to participate in any competitions.

At a meeting of the IOC executive committee on March 28, it was recommended to allow the Russians in a neutral status if the athletes were not actively involved in supporting hostilities.

Earlier, the Kremlin reacted to the decision of the IOC not to invite Russians to the Olympics.