Russia slams Georgia’s Sochi campaign 29/11/2010 |
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Russia's Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Zhukov has hit out a new initiative by Georgia's Parliament to mount a campaign against Sochi hosting the Winter Olympics in 2014.
Russia does not deserve to host the Games because it occupies Georgia's territory, violates human rights and leads a war in North Caucasus, Georgia’s Deputy Prime Minister Georgi Baramidze has claimed.
But Zhukov, recently elected as president of the Russian Olympic Committee, believes the former Soviet republic Georgia has no right to question Sochi's election to host the Games.
Georgia politicians said the Olympics in Sochi should not take place "before the de-occupation of Georgia" and that they should work to convince the International Olympic Committee (IOC) of "the necessity of holding the 2014 Winter Olympics in a different country".
Zhukov, however, has defended Sochi and Russia's right to host the Games – the first time it has staged an Olympics since Moscow in 1980.
"It is completely unacceptable for governments or politicians to interfere with the business of the Olympic Movement," said Zhukov.
"The recent statements from Georgia go against the spirit of the Olympic Charter which is above politics.
"Sochi was democratically chosen by the IOC and they are accountable [only] to the IOC."
Sochi is adjacent to Abkhazia, a region that broke free of Georgian control in the 2008 war with Russia that also split South Ossetia from Georgia.
Russian troops now have a strong presence in Abkhazia and South Ossetia, which Russia recognises as independent countries.
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