28.04.2018

Igor Lebedev suggests taking an example from Kirsan Ilyumzhinov

State Duma Deputy Igor Lebedev commented on the reasoning part of the verdict of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) acquitting the Russian skier Alexander Legkov.

"Now it’s time for the Russian side to take a move. I have already made a proposal for the first step. It is necessary to create a State Duma committee for tracing all Western media publications against our sportsmen that are based on Grigory Rodchenkov’s statements. After that, sue them.

We already have examples of positive outcome of such court proceedings. For example, recently the President of FIDE Kirsan Ilyumzhinov sued and won, and the Washington Post and several other reputable Western outlets had to apologise, not to mention paying the damages. We are not interested in the financial component; the main thing is the restoration of the good name of our sportsmen and all Russian sports.
The second step is to make sure that all sports federations and sportsmen file a class action lawsuit so that all claims against us will be withdrawn. Let them return the medals, restore our sportsmen’s rights and give the whole Russian national team the right to participate in next Summer Olympics," Lebedev said.