The president of Russia accused this Thursday the International Olympic Committee (IOC) of “ethnic discrimination” in relation to Russian athletes, who may be allowed to participate in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games under a neutral flag, due to the military attack on Ukraine .
“Thanks to some IOC leaders, we learned that the Games themselves can be used as an instrument of political pressure against people who have nothing to do with politics and, in fact, as an instrument of ethnic-racial discrimination,” Vladimir Putin said. in a speech dedicated to sport, in Perm, in the Russian region of the Ural Mountains.
The IOC has not yet announced a decision on the participation of Russian athletes, under a neutral flag, in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, but last week it suspended the Russian Olympic Committee, which had decided to unilaterally integrate regional sports associations of Ukrainian territories.
On October 5, the Russian Olympic Committee decided to unilaterally integrate as members the regional sports organizations under the authority of the Ukrainian Committee, specifically Zaporizhia, Donetsk, Lugansk and Kherson.
According to the IOC, the decision to unilaterally integrate as members regional sports organizations that are under the authority of the Ukrainian committee “constitutes a violation of the Olympic Charter, because it does not respect the territorial integrity of the Ukrainian national committee.”
Therefore, the Russian Olympic Committee can no longer function as a national committee and receive funds from the Olympic movement.
Russia and Belarus have been excluded from several sporting events since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. However, some individual athletes have been allowed to compete under certain conditions, notably performing under a neutral flag.
Last September, French President Emmanuel Macron rejected the possibility of having a Russian flag at the 2024 Paris Olympics, due to the ongoing invasion of Ukraine, pointing to “war crimes” committed by the Putin regime, referring a decision to the IOC on participation. of the Russian athletes at the event.
Source: TSF
