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The International Olympic Committee (IOC)
announced last month that athletes from the Russia and Belarus,
barred from competing in European qualifiers due to the invasion
of Ukraine, might be allowed to earn slots for the 2024 Games
through Asian qualifying.
Should they qualify, they would compete in Paris as neutral
athletes, without their flag or anthem.
The move has prompted calls by several countries to have Russian
and Belarusian athletes excluded from the 2024 Olympics.
"We received an invitation to take part in the Asian Games,"
Vasily Titov, head of the Russian gymnastics federation, told
Match TV. "We will reply that we are interested, and then they
will come up with conditions for our participation."
In separate comments to the same channel, Mikhail Mamiashvili,
president of Russia's wrestling federation, said it had also
received an invitation.
"We answered that we are ready to participate according to the
set rules," he said.
Organisers of the Asian Games -- scheduled to take place in
Hangzhou, China, from Sep. 23 to Oct. 8 -- did not immediately
respond to a request for comment.
The Russian Under-17 women's team is also set to participate in
the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Championship
scheduled to take place in Dhaka, Bangladesh next month, as
Russian sports bodies begin to receive invitations to take part
in Asian competitions.
Ukraine, which has pledged to launch a campaign against Russia's
participation at the 2024 Games, has threatened to boycott the
Olympics should athletes from Russia and Belarus be allowed to
compete.
(Reporting by Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber; Editing by; Editing by
Christian Radnedge)
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