International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Thomas Bach has referred to as on Ukraine to drop threats of a boycott of the 2024 Olympics over the participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes.
Ukraine hopes to safe widespread worldwide help for a ban on Russian and Belarusian athletes after the IOC opened the door for them to compete as neutrals in Paris.
Athletes from Russia and neighbouring Belarus, which aided Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine a yr in the past, have been banned from many worldwide competitions since.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has urged the IOC to ban Russia from the Olympics, and Olympic our bodies and lawmakers within the Nordic and Baltic areas have backed Ukraine.
In a letter to Ukraine’s National Olympic Committee (NOC) president Vadym Huttsait, seen by Reuters, Bach mentioned claims that permitting Russian and Belarusian athletes again into the Games would promote the invasion have been “defamatory”.
The IOC has mentioned a boycott will violate the Olympic Charter and that its inclusion of Russian and Belarusians is predicated on a U.N. decision in opposition to discrimination throughout the Olympic motion.
“The participation of neutral athletes with a Russian or Belarusian passport at the Olympic Games Paris 2024 has not even been discussed in concrete terms yet,” Bach mentioned.
“Therefore, your letter… to your fellow NOCs, to the International Federations, IOC Members and to future Olympic hosts, pressuring them in an try and publicly affect their resolution making, has been perceived by the overwhelming majority of them as, on the very least, extraordinarily regrettable.
“It is the responsibility of every NOC… to uphold the fundamental principles of the Olympic Charter.”
The IOC introduced final month that athletes from the 2 international locations could be allowed to earn slots for the Olympics by way of Asian qualifying and compete as neutrals, with no flags or anthems.
Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo has mentioned it’s inconceivable to have Russian athletes marching as a delegation whereas “bombs are still raining down on Ukraine”.
“There are no plans for a Russian or Belarusian delegation or the flags of these countries at the Olympic Games Paris 2024,” the IOC mentioned in a separate assertion on Thursday.
“The only option that could be considered are individual, neutral athletes.”
Paris 2024 organisers have mentioned they may abide by the IOC’s resolution on the problem.
