Moscow, Russia, Sept. 8
By Orkhan Yolchuyev – Trend:
Russia is grateful to Baku, Azerbaijani citizens and colleagues for their response, for their understanding the injustice towards the Russian Paralympians, said Russia’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mariya Zakharova.
She made the remarks at a briefing answering a question of Trend’s correspondent.
“Many thanks to those who have supported us, especially, to Azerbaijani colleagues,” said Zakharova.
Baku has said it will not use the banned Russian Paralympians’ licenses, distributed among other countries’ athletes.
Earlier, the World Anti-Doping Agency banned Russian Paralympians from the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro.
Azerbaijan’s Minister of Youth and Sports Azad Rahimov has earlier said it is not right to ban Russian team’s participation in the competitions in Rio.
“Azerbaijan has won three licenses,” he said. “But we haven’t earned those [Russian] licenses. How can an athlete, who has not earned a license, take part in the Olympics?”
The 2016 Summer Paralympics will be held Sept. 7-18 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.