International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach has known as on Ukraine to drop its menace to boycott the 2024 Olympics over the participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes.
Ukraine is anticipated to garner widespread worldwide assist for a ban on Russian and Belarusian athletes after the IOC opened the door for Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete as neutrals in Paris.
Athletes from Russia and neighboring Belarus, which aided Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine a yr earlier, have since been banned from many worldwide competitions.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has urged the IOC to ban Russia from the Olympics, and Olympic our bodies and parliamentarians within the Nordic and Baltic areas have supported Ukraine.
In a letter to Vadim Hatsait, president of the National Olympic Committee (NOC) of Ukraine, seen by Reuters, Bach claimed that permitting Russian and Belarusian athletes to return to the Games would encourage aggression, which had been “outrageous”.
The IOC has acknowledged that the exclusion would violate the Olympic Charter and that the inclusion of Russians and Belarusians relies on a United Nations decision in opposition to discrimination inside the Olympic Movement.
“The participation of neutral athletes with Russian or Belarusian passports at the Olympic Games Paris 2024 has not yet been discussed in concrete terms,” ​​Bach stated.
“Therefore, your letter … to your fellow NOCs, worldwide federations, IOC members and future Olympic hosts, is perceived by most of them to be exerting strain on them in an try and publicly affect their decision-making. is, 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 each international locations might be allowed to earn slots for the Olympics by Asian qualification and compete as neutrals, with out a flag or anthem.
Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo has stated it’s unthinkable for Russian athletes to march as a delegation whereas “bombs are still raining over Ukraine”.
The IOC stated in a separate assertion on Thursday: “There are no plans for a Russian or Belarusian delegation or the flags of these countries at the Olympic Games Paris 2024.”
“The only options that can be considered are individual, neutral athletes.”
Paris 2024 organizers have stated they may abide by the IOC’s resolution on the problem.
With inputs from TheIndianEXPRESS
