New Year’s greetings from the President of the Russian Olympic Committee

The President of the Russian Olympic Committee Stanislav Pozdnyakov congratulated athletes, coaches, specialists, sports leaders and all representatives of the large Olympic family with the upcoming New Year!

Stanislav Pozdnyakov:

Dear friends!

2020 was challenging for each of us. It was a test of strength, the ability to make effective decisions in the most difficult situations, at the same time making it possible to care more about our relatives and friends, as well as remember the paramount importance of family values.

Sport in the context of the pandemic and related events faced unprecedented organizational, financial and social challenges. Many began to question the integrity and relevance of the Olympic movement.

Despite all the negative factors, I believe that both the International Olympic Committee at the global level and the Russian Olympic Committee at the national level have done everything possible to mitigate the effects of the crisis, minimize moral and material losses for athletes, as well as create the necessary conditions for developing and supporting mass sport and high-achievement sport.

Undoubtedly, an important result of the year was the decision by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to uphold WADA’s case against the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA). I continue to believe that the punishment imposed on our sport was excessive and the accusations were unreasonable. At the same time, we were able to defend all the basic rights of our athletes and the fact that CAS did not support WADA in applying collective responsibility measures under the current circumstances can be regarded as a success of the Russian side in the legal sphere.

In this regard, the ROC looks forward to the upcoming New Year with restrained optimism and the understanding of the amount of work that needs to be done for the progress and development of sports in our country in order to create a physically fit and morally worthy new generation of athletes. I wish you all, first and foremost, good health, family happiness, self-confidence, Olympic calmness, success in all your endeavours and great emotions from the victories of our athletes!

Happy New Year!