Russian athletes recommend a country song ‘Katyusha’ instead of a hymn: reports

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian athletes on Thursday praised the beloved country song ‘Katyusha’ at international sporting events for the next two years, while Russia’s national anthem is banned from breaking breaches, news agencies reported.

PHOTO FILE: Sofya Velikaya, Chair of the Athletes Commission of the Russian Olympic Committee, will attend the annual meeting of the Russian Olympic Committee with sports alliances, academies, member organizations, coaches and athletes in Moscow, Russia 28 November, 2019. REUTERS / Evgenia Novozhenina

‘Katyusha’ is a song that was very popular during World War II and, according to some accounts, inspired the name of the Katyusha rocket surgeons of the Soviet Union.

The Swiss-based Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) upheld a ruling banning Russian athletes from competing at major international events, including the Olympics, under the country’s flag. 2022.

It was a severe blow to Russian sports that were marred a few years ago by a series of doping scandals.

On Thursday, the CAS Supreme Court released an 186-page sports document detailing its decision.

The ruling, which originally banned Russia’s four-year ban, will leave Russian athletes without their flag and national anthem at this year’s Tokyo Olympics, the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics and the 2022 World Cup soccer in Qatar.

The Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) athletes’ commission recommended ‘Katyusha’ as an alternative to the national anthem.

“There were a lot of options for the concert, even modern ones,” Russian news outlets told Olympic fan Sofya Velikaya, who chairs the athletes’ commission.

“But we settled on ‘Katyusha’ by a large number of votes.”

It was not immediately clear whether the play ‘Katyusha’ could be allowed.

In their ruling in December, CAS stated: “Russia’s national anthem (or any Russian-related hymn) will not be officially played or sung at any official event.”

He said this included opening, closing and medal ceremonies.

A 2015 report commissioned by the World Anti-Doping Organization found evidence of massive doping among Russian track and field athletes.

Russia, which in the past has accepted some shortcomings in the implementation of anti-doping policies, denies a state-backed doping program.

Reciting with Alexander Marrow; Edited by Ken Ferris

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