Legendary hockey player Dominik Hašek slams IOC for allowing Russian athletes in 2024 Olympics

Legendary Czech ice hockey goaltender Dominik Hašek criticised the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for allowing Russian athletes to compete in the 2024 Olympic Games. The two-time Stanley Cup winner, six-time NHL best goaltender, and Olympic champion believes that this decision is the worst possible and plays into Kremlin propaganda.

Source: Hašek in an interview with Suspilne Culture, as reported by Champion

"This is the worst possible decision. It's a huge effort by the Russian government, Putin, everybody else, to get the Russians back. You have no idea how much it is if you convert it into money. It’s tens or hundreds of billions of dollars.

It's just an incredible boost to their propaganda. Allowing Russian athletes to participate in the Olympics is the same as if we sent them a thousand aircraft and a thousand tanks, maybe even more," said Dominik Hašek.

This is already the second visit to Ukraine for the 50-year-old Hašek since the full-scale invasion of Russia into Ukraine began.

Background: 

• Earlier, Hašek was shocked by the statement of IOC President Thomas Bach, in which he announced the desire to reintegrate Russian athletes into international competitions.

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