Russian Duma slams IOC's denial of Olympic qualification to Russian national team

MOSCOW, Dec. 8 (Xinhua) -- The Russian State Duma on Friday approved a statement criticizing the decision of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to ban the Russian team's participation in the 2018 Winter Olympics under the national flag.

"The ban to represent one's country at competitions limits the rights of an athlete as a person and a citizen. This is humiliating for any athlete who is proud to represent his or her country," reads the statement unanimously supported by 409 deputies.

On Tuesday, the IOC announced that due to "systemic manipulation of the anti-doping rules and system in Russia", only individual Russian athlete without a doping record would be invited to participate in the 2018 Winter Olympic Games in PyeongChan, South Korea.

The athletes will compete under the name "Olympic Athlete from Russia (OAR)" and will wear a uniform bearing this name and under the Olympic Flag instead of the Russian colors. The Olympic Anthem will be played in any ceremony instead of the Russian one.

Russian parliament members urged for stopping the practice of "unfounded accusations against Russian athletes and political interference in the sphere of sports."

Copies of the Duma statement were sent to the IOC, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), UNESCO, the Russian Olympic Committee (ROS) and the Russian Anti-Doping Agency.

Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier claimed the IOC decision to be politically motivated, but repelled the idea of boycotting the Olympic Games. Enditem