FILE PHOTO: President of the Russian Olympic Committee Stanislav Pozdnyakov attends a state awards ceremony at the Committee's headquarters in Moscow, Russia April 6, 2023. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov/File Photo
(Reuters) - Russia's Olympic chief Stanislav Pozdnyakov said on Tuesday he was stepping down to make way for the election of a replacement, citing "geopolitical challenges" facing Russian sport.
Russia has been a top medals contender at summer and winter Olympics for decades but was banned from competing as a team at the recent Paris Games because of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
"The geopolitical challenges faced by our country dictate the need to optimise and centralise the management of key spheres of activity, including high-performance sport," said Pozdnyakov, who has headed the Russian Olympic Committee since 2018.
"To further strengthen the Russian Olympic movement, now there are timely preconditions, including economic ones, for a change of leader and team."
Pozdnyakov said he was sure the ROC Executive Committee would back his proposal at its next meeting on Nov. 7.
Only a few Russian athletes were authorised by the International Olympic Committee to compete as Individual Neutral Athletes in Paris after undergoing a screening process designed to root out anyone who had publicly supported the war in Ukraine or had links with Russia's military.
Russian officials complained that the restrictions were unfair and discriminatory. Some of the athletes who were cleared turned down offers to compete as neutrals.
Pozdnyakov, a former Olympic fencer, said in April that whether to take part was a personal choice for Russian athletes, but the ROC was on the side of those for whom the IOC conditions were unacceptable.
(Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Mark Trevelyan)
