Russia decides to boycott Paris Olympics broadcast
For the first time in 40 years, the Olympics won’t be broadcast in Russia, as television channels have refused to air the event, reports Sports.ru, citing informed sources.
"A political decision was long made that under current circumstances, airing the Olympics without the flag and anthem on 'Channel One' and 'Russia-1' is impossible," a source told the news outlet.
According to the source, until the last moment, there was a discussion about broadcasting on the channel "Match TV," but only for sports where Russian athletes compete. The social media network VKontakte negotiated to buy the rights to the broadcast, but also opted not to sign the contract.
The broadcasting rights are held by JSC Telesport owned by Pyotr Makarenko, who is currently under house arrest on fraud charges. Theoretically, he could resell the rights, but there seem to be no interested buyers, Sports.ru notes.
The Olympics are scheduled to begin on July 26 in Paris, and Russian athletes will participate under a neutral flag. The last time a similar decision was made to forgo broadcasting was during the Soviet era when the USSR boycotted the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles.