WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 21st March, 2022) Banning Russian athletes from most international competitions is not the right decision, especially given such events are key to relations between states, US Ambassador to the UN Andrew Young told Sputnik.
Moscow is currently facing a sporting lockout over the situation in Ukraine, with organizations across the world refusing to host or play against teams from Russia.
"This is an incorrect thing," Young said about the bans while adding that sports competitions were among the finest times in the history of the US-Russia relationship. "We beat you in hockey (in 1980), and you beat us in basketball (in 1972). We do not like to lose, but nobody died and suffered, and the economies of both countries grew."
The former US diplomat, who served as the Mayor of Atlanta, Georgia in the 1980s, recalled how the city was preparing for hosting the 1996 Summer Olympic Games, and the Russians helped them to win the bid.
"When I was the Mayor of Atlanta, and we were trying to bring the Summer Olympics (in 1996) here, we had good support from the Russian delegation, and they all helped us in bringing the Olympics to Atlanta," he said.
Before the Games, a delegation of 3,000 representatives from Atlanta visited Moscow, Kiev, and Tbilisi, he added.
"We found that the Russian people are wonderful people," Young said.
He also pointed out the democratic nature of the Olympic movement.
"I think the Olympic movement for the most part is democratic. There is no one man or one country that dominates it. A majority of the athletic community in the planet makes most of the decisions, and nobody has a veto there," he noted.
However, Young has admitted, it is complicated to protect the health and sanity of athletes because there is so much money in sports now.
