"The IOC's conditions are simply unattainable," Salnikov said at a round table hosted by the Rossiya Segodnya international media agency in Moscow for the heads of the Russian sports federations to discuss the IOC's conditions.
He said many countries, including European, have demonstrated their unfriendly attitude, and some may even boycott the Olympics, which could result in severe losses for the World Aquatics, financial losses included.
"On the other hand, they still consider the 2022 Youth World Aquatics Championships and the 2024 World Aquatics Championships, which was slated to take place in Moscow, as suspended. It would be impractical for them to declare them both off, and the fact that the decision is suspended until June shows that there is still interest in our country. The money invested in the preparation for the championships will need to be returned, and it's huge," he said.
The World Aquatics will make the decision in mid June, which would mean that the Russian athletes would not be able to apply for the Olympics in Paris, Salnikov added.
"There is still chance, but it's tiny," he added.
On March 26, the IOC issued a recommendation for international sports federations to allow Russian athletes compete in neutral status, provided that they do not support Russia's special military operation in Ukraine and are not contracted to the Russian military or national security agencies. Teams under Russian or Belarusian flags will not be allowed.
The Olympic Games in Paris are scheduled to be held from July 26 to August 11, 2024.