The decision of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to authorize the participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, under a neutral flag, is considered erroneous by kyiv and “encourages” continued attacks against Ukraine.
“The members of the IOC Executive Committee who made this decision have a responsibility to encourage Russia and Belarus to continue their armed aggression against Ukraine. There is no doubt that the Kremlin will use all Russian and Belarusian athletes as a weapon in its war of propaganda.” Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
On Friday, the IOC authorized the participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, under a neutral flag and on the condition that they do not actively support the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Only 11 “neutral individual athletes” – eight Russians and three Belarusians – are currently qualified for the next edition of the Olympic Games, of which these two countries remain excluded from the team events, the IOC said in a statement.
Ukrainian diplomacy considers that athletes, “particularly Russian ones,” often represent “organizations associated with the Russian armed forces” and that “some actively participate in the Russian army.”
“The IOC intends to authorize athletes to compete in international sports stadiums who not only support the murder of Ukrainian women and children, but are also likely to be directly involved in these crimes,” the document adds.
Following the exclusion from world sport in February 2022, the Olympic body has defended that Russian and Belarusian athletes should not be penalized by the actions of their countries’ governments, now authorizing participation in Paris 2024, for which some are qualified. 60 Ukrainian athletes.
In March, the IOC recommended to international federations the reinstatement of Russians and Belarusians to their competitions, under a neutral flag, but postponed “until the appropriate time” its own decision on the presence in Paris 2024 and the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan. -Curtain.
Source: TSF
