PARIS – The Paris Olympics will welcome neutral Russian and Belarusian athletes at the global sporting showpiece in 2024 following the decision made by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) last week, the chief of the organising committee told Reuters on Dec 12.
Russians and Belarusians who qualify in their sport for the Paris Games can take part as individual neutral athletes at the July 26-Aug 11 event without flags, emblems or anthems, the IOC said on Dec 8.
“As the organising committee, we welcome and respect this decision,” said Tony Estanguet, the head of Paris 2024.
“We will welcome these athletes... to participate within the rules that have been indicated, meaning no flags, no hymns, no officials, no team sports. So these delegations will be very small but will be welcomed by Paris 2024.”
The neutral athletes will compete only in individual sports, while no Russian or Belarusian government or state official would be invited to or accredited for Paris 2024, the IOC added in its statement.
Russians and Belarusians had initially been banned from competing internationally following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, for which Belarus has been used as a staging ground.
In March, however, the IOC issued a first set of recommendations for international sports federations to allow Russian and Belarusian competitors to return as neutrals and they have since done so in most events.
But athletes who actively support the war in Ukraine are not eligible, nor are those contracted to the Russian or Belarusian military.
According to the IOC, 11 athletes – eight Russians and three Belarusians – have so far qualified for Paris by meeting the neutrality criteria. More than 60 Ukrainian athletes have qualified for the Games as well.
While Paris is in favour of the IOC’s decision, Ukraine has vehemently protested against the call.
“The members of the International Olympic Committee executive board who made this decision bear responsibility for encouraging Russia and Belarus to continue their armed aggression,” the Ukrainian foreign ministry said.
Kyiv also said that Russian athletes often represent “sports organisations associated with the armed forces” and it insisted that “some of them are on active duty in the Russian military”.
The ruling means welcoming back sportsmen and women who “not only sympathise with the murders of Ukrainian women and children, but are likely to be directly involved in these terrible crimes”.
The foreign ministry also strongly worded that: “The International Olympic Committee has effectively given Russia the green light to weaponise the Olympics.”
In September, the International Paralympic Committee had already confirmed that Russian and Belarusian athletes will similarly compete as neutrals at the Paris Paralympics, which will take place after the Olympics from Aug 28 to Sept 8. REUTERS
