The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has recommended that countries opposing the participation of Russia and Belarus in the Olympic Games (OI) in Paris in 2024 should abandon this requirement. The newspaper reported Der Spiegel.
According to the publication, at the summit dedicated to the discussion of the 2024 Olympics, on February 10, 36 countries took a position on the exclusion of athletes from Russia and Belarus from participation in the competition.
After that, according to the authors of the article, the IOC sent a letter to the Olympic Committees of the countries whose sports ministers took part in the event.
“We strongly recommend that you do not sign the declaration, or at least make sure that the wording reflects the opinion of the Olympic Movement as much as possible,” the letter said, published by the publication.
On the same day, French athlete, Olympic champion and silver medalist, European champion, member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Guy Drew noted that at the moment there are no reasons to prevent Russian athletes from participating in the 2024 Olympics. In his opinion, Russians should not suffer because of political decisions. As Drew noted, his opinion is shared by other members of the IOC.
On February 11, French biathlete Martin Fourcade noted that Russian and Belarusian athletes should be allowed to compete in France. According to him, he was elected to the IOC so that he could protect the interests of athletes.
Earlier, on January 25, the IOC announced that they would consider the possibility of allowing Russian athletes who do not support the special military operation of the Russian Federation to protect Donbass to compete in a neutral status. In response, the press secretary of the President of the Russian Federation, Dmitry Peskov, said that even the wording of the initiative turned out to be too much politics, which “should be alien” to the ideas of the Olympic family.
The XXXIII Summer Olympic Games will be held in Paris from July 26 to August 11, 2024. The organizers of the Olympics confirmed that they intend to follow the decisions of the IOC regarding the admission of Russian and Belarusian athletes to international events.
On February 28, 2022, the IOC recommended that international sports federations not allow Russian athletes to participate in international competitions due to the situation around Ukraine.
