The official representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Maria Zakharova stated that international sports federations should refuse the USA in the right to conduct competitions. With this proposal, she spoke at today's traditional press conference. This idea is connected with the visa policy of Washington in relation to Russian athletes. "The non-issuance of visas for our athletes who have official invitations to the events is an obvious discrimination of both athletes and the country and, of course, a blow to international sport," the diplomat said.. Such steps, the representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry believes, can lead to the isolation of the States themselves, including in the sports world. "Everybody sees that the authorities of this country are not playing by the rules," Zakharova said.. What is the purpose of such measures of Americans, Zakharova was at a loss to determine: either to get rid of rivals, or to draw attention to politics. "Today this is happening in relation to Russian athletes, tomorrow they will do so with others. Until such a situation changes, we invite the international sports federations to refrain from granting the USA the right to conduct competitions. You can not indulge that state, which clearly mixes sports and politics, "- emphasized the Director of the Department of Information and Press of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. According to her, the process of issuing US visas to the Russian Federation is practically blocked, the waiting periods for visa interviews reach 10 months. And in this situation are both ordinary tourists, and athletes. As an example, Zakharova was led by the refusal of the US Embassy in Moscow to organize interviews for the national wrestling team in April this year. Our freestylers had to go to the World Cup in Iowa City. The same refusal was already received in June by teams for equestrian and sailing. And this despite the fact that they submitted all the documents for 3-4 months before the tournament, the diplomat added..