Ministry of Sport and Youth Affairs of Georgia responded to the statement made by one part of the Georgian sportsmen yesterday. It is said in the statement of the Ministry, that none of athletes have ever been persecuted because of their political views and that the Ministry respects their right to express their opinion.

“We, as a Ministry of Sport and Youth Affairs of Georgia feel obliged to express our opinion about the statement, which was made yesterday by one part of the sportsmen - about violation of their rights, because of their political views.

We think that all the athletes are first of all citizens of their country and have the right to have and to express their civil or political opinion.

In this regard, Ministry of Sport and Youth Affairs of Georgia has publicly stated and emphasized that there were no restrictions ever made towards athlete and that against none of them has not been taken any penalty sanction because of their political views.

It should be noted, that all who signed the statement were members of certain political coalition and their statement is the part of election campaign of the coalition. They have all rights to be the part of the campaign but it is a pity that they have chosen the way of misleading the society.

In case of interest, you can easily check that these athletes are still receiving reimbursement appointed by the state for their sports achievements. Moreover, none of the sportsman was expelled from the national team, because of their political views.

As for the negative aspect of sportsmen involvement in active politics - there is only one - negative impact on the sporting discipline. In many cases dedication most of the time to other commitments violates the athletes and team mode. This will inevitably negatively reflect on the achievements of Georgian sport.

We are once again underlining the fact, that the Ministry of Sport and Youth Affairs of Georgia, along with the sports federations, gave recommendations and only on the level of information to the sportsmen actively involved in politics, that their active involvement in politics should not violate the sporting discipline.

Moreover there are cases when, despite the coach's repeated requests - to show up to the training - this athlete did not obey the coach's request.” – is said in the statement spread by the Ministry.

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