MacShane said in Parliament that British Prime Minister David Cameron should ban Putin and that Russia would not be welcome at the London 2012 Games until it improved its human rights record.

The British politician said that Russia had failed to hold a "proper investigation" into the murder of British citizen Alexander Litvinenko by polonium poisoning in 2006, and also highlighted the death in a Russian prison of lawyer Sergei Magnitsky two years ago when he died in police custody after being arrested for wide-scale tax fraud.

MacShane has come under heavy criticism for his comment and Chernyshenko said that it would be a huge mistake to use the London 2012 Olympics to make a political statement following the high profile boycotts of the Moscow 1980 and Los Angeles 1984 Olympics, two of the most damaging incidents to the Olympic Movement since the Second World War.


"It would have been a mistake to forget the historical lessons from 1980 and 1984," Chernyshenko (pictured) told insidethegames here at the Winter Youth Olympic Games.

"The Olympics is not about politics and it will be unforgivable to use such a wonderful moment like the Games to make a political statement.

"But I'm sure Russia will be proudly represented in London and I know that there is huge interest for the Russian people to come to London and share in the glory of our athletes at the Games."


Chernyshenko continued that he has huge respect for Putin, who played a monumental role in helping Sochi secure the 2014 Winter Games at the 119th International Olympic Committee (IOC) Session in Guatemala City in 2007 when he was the country's President.

"I remember that during the bidding campaign, we use to call Putin the captain of our team," explained the Sochi 2014 leader.

"That wasn't just nice words.

"He was fully behind the bid and he was involved in the daily operation.

"He helped create the momentum to help us win the bid in Guatemala and he has also been fully supportive ever since we won the bid.

"It is his baby and he will be proudly up on the stage at Sochi 2014."

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