٠٠:٠٢:٢٤The head of the Local Organizing Committee (LOC) Russia-2020 Alexei Sorokin said the recent decision by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) to hand Russia a four-year ban from major sporting events "will not affect in any way the Russian part of the upcoming Euro' 2020 football tournament while speaking in an interview with RT in Moscow on Monday.
"We quite expected that these sanctions will not affect in any way the Russian part of the upcoming Euro, anyway. First of all, it's a continental tournament, not a world tournament, not a multi-sport tournament. We have previously been led to believe by WADA officials that the sanctions will not concern Euro for these reasons. In addition to that, for many years now Russian football has not been doping-prone. We have been extensively tested through many world football competitions," claimed Sorokin.
Commenting on the question whether WADA's sanctions can concern the attendance of matches, LOC chief answered that, in his opinion, football fans "come not because there has been a certain statement from an important but still non-football organisation" but rather that they "expect to see their favourite players perform."
Sorokin also noted that the "qualification for Qatar-2022 is within the competence of UEFA and it represents a continental part, because it's under the umbrella of UEFA. So, each confederation is responsible for its own qualification before we reach the final part which is in Qatar. So this following the same logic by WADA: it's a continental competition, it's not a multisport competition."
"I can only personally presume that it'll be exempt for any of what we are reading right now concerning sanctions," Sorokin added.
Russia's northern capital will host three group stage matches and a quarterfinal in the tournament, with all four games to be played at the Gazprom Arena.
The Euro 2020 tournament will be held from June 12 to July 12.
Russia: Local Organising Committee chief expects that WADA sanctions ‘will not affect’ Russian part of Euro 2020
The head of the Local Organizing Committee (LOC) Russia-2020 Alexei Sorokin said the recent decision by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) to hand Russia a four-year ban from major sporting events "will not affect in any way the Russian part of the upcoming Euro' 2020 football tournament while speaking in an interview with RT in Moscow on Monday.
"We quite expected that these sanctions will not affect in any way the Russian part of the upcoming Euro, anyway. First of all, it's a continental tournament, not a world tournament, not a multi-sport tournament. We have previously been led to believe by WADA officials that the sanctions will not concern Euro for these reasons. In addition to that, for many years now Russian football has not been doping-prone. We have been extensively tested through many world football competitions," claimed Sorokin.
Commenting on the question whether WADA's sanctions can concern the attendance of matches, LOC chief answered that, in his opinion, football fans "come not because there has been a certain statement from an important but still non-football organisation" but rather that they "expect to see their favourite players perform."
Sorokin also noted that the "qualification for Qatar-2022 is within the competence of UEFA and it represents a continental part, because it's under the umbrella of UEFA. So, each confederation is responsible for its own qualification before we reach the final part which is in Qatar. So this following the same logic by WADA: it's a continental competition, it's not a multisport competition."
"I can only personally presume that it'll be exempt for any of what we are reading right now concerning sanctions," Sorokin added.
Russia's northern capital will host three group stage matches and a quarterfinal in the tournament, with all four games to be played at the Gazprom Arena.
The Euro 2020 tournament will be held from June 12 to July 12.
The head of the Local Organizing Committee (LOC) Russia-2020 Alexei Sorokin said the recent decision by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) to hand Russia a four-year ban from major sporting events "will not affect in any way the Russian part of the upcoming Euro' 2020 football tournament while speaking in an interview with RT in Moscow on Monday.
"We quite expected that these sanctions will not affect in any way the Russian part of the upcoming Euro, anyway. First of all, it's a continental tournament, not a world tournament, not a multi-sport tournament. We have previously been led to believe by WADA officials that the sanctions will not concern Euro for these reasons. In addition to that, for many years now Russian football has not been doping-prone. We have been extensively tested through many world football competitions," claimed Sorokin.
Commenting on the question whether WADA's sanctions can concern the attendance of matches, LOC chief answered that, in his opinion, football fans "come not because there has been a certain statement from an important but still non-football organisation" but rather that they "expect to see their favourite players perform."
Sorokin also noted that the "qualification for Qatar-2022 is within the competence of UEFA and it represents a continental part, because it's under the umbrella of UEFA. So, each confederation is responsible for its own qualification before we reach the final part which is in Qatar. So this following the same logic by WADA: it's a continental competition, it's not a multisport competition."
"I can only personally presume that it'll be exempt for any of what we are reading right now concerning sanctions," Sorokin added.
Russia's northern capital will host three group stage matches and a quarterfinal in the tournament, with all four games to be played at the Gazprom Arena.
The Euro 2020 tournament will be held from June 12 to July 12.