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The B.A.A. Boston Marathon had previously announced that Russian and Belarusian athletes will not be permitted to run in the annual event due to the war in Ukraine. Moscow Marathon organizers called out their American counterparts in TASS, the Russian news agency.

“We do not allow such a possibility that citizens of one or another country could not enter the Moscow Marathon,” said Moscow Marathon director Dmitry Tarasov, in TASS.

Officials do, however, arrest professional basketball players for minor possession of recreational drugs, jail them, and refuse to negotiate their return.

Cannabis is legal in the state of Arizona, where Brittney Griner lives. In Russia being caught with less than six grams of cannabis people can face 15 days in detention or are ordered to pay a fine. Griner had in her possession less than a gram, however, was still sentenced to nine years in prison.

She is a political pawn. US officials would not allow such a possibility that citizens of another country could not carry a personal amount of cannabis.

“We are open to everyone, like our entire country.

“We are waiting for people who will come from different countries,” the TASS article read.

Approximately 4,000 athletes from Russia and 5,500 international athletes from 21 different countries competed in the Moscow Marathon on Sept. 18. It was rescheduled from Sept. 1. With a two-week reschedule, it is likely many of the 5500 international athletes did not in fact compete.

Results apparently are unavailable as of Sept. 19.