MOSCOW, June 30 (RAPSI, Maria Petrova) – A bill on simplifying citizenship requirements for foreign world and Olympic champions was submitted to the State Duma on Monday, the lower house has announced on its website.

Lawmakers Igor Ananskikh and Dmitry Svishchev from the Liberal Democratic Party have proposed amending the law On Citizenship to help grant Russian citizenship to foreign athletes who are willing to represent Russia at the Olympic Games and other international competitions.

The authors of the bill believe that this provision should only be offered to gold medal winners and other Olympic, Paralympic and Deaflympic game medalists and also world and European champions.

Under the current law, foreigners can receive Russian citizenship if they have continuously lived in Russia for five years, have a legitimate source of income, agree to give up their previous citizenship and speak Russian.

If the State Duma adopts the bill, foreign athletes interested in receiving Russian citizenship could bypass these requirements.