OREANDA-NEWS. State Duma Deputy Dmitry Svishchev spoke about the recommendations of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) on answers to provocative questions during the Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo.

Earlier, the media reported that the ROC showed Russian athletes instructions, which indicated recommendations for answering various questions. In case of questions about politics, athletes are advised to adhere to the position of "sports outside politics" and not discuss Crimea or Donbass.

"I consider such recommendations to be a relic of the Soviet past, when people were given a manual on behavior when traveling abroad. This is just some kind of nonsense. Should we teach our athletes to talk? I think athletes are quite independent and educated people who can decide for themselves what they want. If they follow the training manual and do not answer questions, they will seem taciturn and stupid, "Gazeta.Ru quotes Svishchev as saying.

"It is likely that foreign journalists will not care about Russian athletes. I do not see any fear that our athletes will express their point of view," Svishchev added.

In turn, the press secretary of the Russian President Dmitry Peskov said that the ROC's recommendations on answering provocative questions for domestic Olympians during the Tokyo Games would not hurt, because athletes are not politicians.

Earlier, Vedomosti wrote that the ROC presented instructions to Russian athletes, in which it indicated recommendations for answering critical questions. In case of receiving questions about the current political agenda, the simplest way out is to answer "No comment", adhering to the principle of "sports outside politics", one should not discuss the topics of Crimea or Donbass.