MINSK, July 6 — RIA Novosti. The Minister of Sports and Tourism of Belarus, Sergey Kovalchuk, believes that the sanctions against Belarusian and Russian athletes will last longer than a year.
Earlier, the International Olympic Committee recommended that international sports federations prevent Russian and Belarusian athletes from participating in competitions due to the situation in Ukraine, where the Russian military special operation began.
«The suspension of our countries (in the competition — editor’s note) may last longer than a year. If the IOC president himself goes to the war zone and makes any statements, the trend is unfortunately obvious. There may be further steps to discriminate against athletes, ”Sputnik Belarus quotes Kovalchuk on Wednesday.
