Although the Olympic Charter declares the separation of wrestling from politics, in practice this principle does not work well. A public event of this magnitude cannot but be used in the global political game. In 1984, for the only time in the history of the USSR, political motives became the reason for the non-participation of its athletes in the Olympic Games.
In 1980, for the first and, as it later turned out, the only time, the Summer Olympic Games were held in the Soviet Union. This was the time when the "cold war" between the countries of the socialist and capitalist camps reached its maximum intensity, which could not but affect the Olympics. The first sports event of this magnitude in the USSR could have become a powerful propaganda salvo in this war, so the opponents took preventive measures by organizing a boycott of the Moscow Olympics. At the official level, this idea first began to be discussed in the British Parliament, and the subsequent introduction of Soviet troops into Afghanistan was named the main reason. Officially, 64 states took part in the boycott of the XXII Summer Olympic Games, although the athletes of most of them took part in the starts in Moscow. All this became the reason that four years later led to the non-participation of the USSR team in the next summer Olympics, held in Los Angeles, USA.
The fact that the athletes of the Soviet Union will not be at the games of the XXIII Summer Olympics was officially announced three months before its start. The direct reasons cited were the refusal of the US government to provide written safety guarantees to athletes from socialist countries. In addition, the Americans did not allow the "Georgia" motor ship, which was supposed to become the floating base of the Soviet delegation, into the country. The United States then demanded that the embassy provide a list of all athletes, although they were not provided with visas under the Olympic rules, and denied Aeroflot charter flights to transport the Olympians.
The socialist countries, excluding the PRC and Yugoslavia, joined the boycott. In addition to them, on their own initiative, the Los Angeles Olympics were boycotted by Iran and Libya. As an alternative to the 1984 Summer Games in six socialist countries, competitions were held under the general name "Friendship-84", in which athletes from 50 countries took part.
