ROC President Stanislav Pozdnyakov has hit out at the OCA and the IOC for failing to contact them over the decision to exclude Russia from the Asian Games ©Getty Images

Russian Olympic Committee President Stanislav Pozdnyakov has slammed the exclusion of his athletes from the Asian Games here as "completely unacceptable" after claiming that they were not contacted over the change in decision.

Up to 500 athletes from Russia and Belarus had been allocated places by the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) to enable them to boost their qualification hopes for next year’s Olympics in Paris.

The decision had been made at the OCA General Assembly in July before Russia’s hopes of appearing at the Asian Games were dashed when the International Olympic Committee (IOC) ruled at the beginning of this month that the plans were "not feasible".

Speaking to Russia's official state news agency TASS, Pozdnyakov criticised the OCA and the IOC for "changing their minds".

OCA Acting President Randhir Singh has claimed that
OCA Acting President Randhir Singh has claimed that "logestics could not be worked out" for Russian and Belarusian athletes to feature at Hangzhou 2022 ©OCA

"Let's go back to the Olympic Summit, where the acting head of the Olympic Council of Asia, Randhir Singh, spoke," said Pozdnyakov.

"After [IOC President] Thomas Bach suggested looking for ways to return Russian and Belarusian athletes, he said that it would be nice to start with the Asian continent, presumably with the Asian Games.

"After that, the general director of the OCA [Husain Al-Musallam] called me and said: '500 seats have been reserved for you, we are waiting for your athletes.'

"We began to wait for the necessary specifics in terms of selection, logistics, an official invitation, in the end.

"But then there is only a blank wall on the other side.

"And on September 23, the Games started.

"From the point of view of diplomacy, I think such things are completely unacceptable - they didn't even tell us that they changed their minds about inviting."


The IOC's decision to refused to recognise the election of Sheikh Talal Fahad Al Ahmad Al Sabah as OCA President
The IOC's decision to refused to recognise the election of Sheikh Talal Fahad Al Ahmad Al Sabah as OCA President "partly influence" to exclusion of Russia from the Asian Games, according to ROC President Stanislav Pozdnyakov ©OCA

Singh insisted earlier this week that Russian and Belarusian athletes would have been "most welcome" at Hangzhou 2022 but claimed that the "logistics could be worked out" following discussions with the IOC.


The Indian official has been forced to resume his role as interim leader of the OCA after the IOC refused to recognise the election of Sheikh Ahmad's younger brother Sheikh Talal Fahad Al Ahmad Al Sabah as President.

Sheikh Talal overcame fellow Kuwaiti Husain Al-Musallam in the Presidential election at the OCA General Assembly but the IOC claimed that Sheikh Ahmed, who had travelled to the Thai capital to lobby on behalf of his brother, had an "undeniable impact" on the result.

Pozdnyakov claimed that the election controversy also played a part in the U-turn on Russia’s participation at the Asian Games.

"Even taking into account the fact that the Olympic Council of Asia got into trouble related to the elections, which the International Olympic Committee did not recognise as legitimate," said Pozdnyakov.

"These problems also partly influenced the fact that in the end there are no athletes from Russia at the Asian Games.

"The Games are held in China, the relations between our countries would remove all security issues, the geographical proximity excludes any logistical problems.

"But the IOC's position has been counterproductive."