Russian Sports Minister Mikhail Degtyarev was today elected president of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC), with the same person holding both positions for the first time since the dissolution of the Soviet Union.
Degtyarev received the support of 197 delegates, in a vote that had two abstentions, and replaces Stanislav Pozdnyakov in the COR, who resigned in mid-October due to the "need to optimize" the management of sports in the country.
The sports minister was the only one to present his candidacy, after receiving the approval of Russian President Vladimir Putin and the support of 22 sports federations.
The new president of COR assured that there will not be a merger with the ministry he occupies, but a coordination of efforts for Russia's return to world sport, given the restrictions imposed on the country, following the invasion of Ukraine.
"It is time to put an end to the aggressive rhetoric towards international organizations. Many in the IOC understand that without Russian athletes there is no Olympic movement. In unofficial contacts they express the desire for Russia's return," said the minister and new president of the Olympic Committee.
The previous official had been highly critical of the IOC, noting that the body had taken a political side from the beginning, and argued that this "in itself contradicts its mission."
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