Lithuanian Sports Minister Jurgita Šiugždinienė said a group of 35 countries, including the United States, Germany, Australia and Poland, would demand that athletes from Russia and Belarus be barred from the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. Mrs. Shyugzhdinene announced this following the results of the online summit of representatives of the ministers of sports of 35 countries, reports Reuters. The agency does not specify which countries, in addition to those mentioned, are included in the group of 35 states.
Jurgita Shugzhdinene said that soon the countries opposing the participation of Belarusians and Russians in the Olympics will not need to threaten to boycott the competition, because all countries will act unanimously. Poland’s Sports Minister Kamil Bortnichuk, who also attended the summit, said that a compromise solution that ruled out a boycott of the Olympics could be to involve Russian and Belarusian athletes who had left their countries to compete.
According to Reuters, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky took part in the online summit. In his message to the ministers, he once again stressed that, given the entry of Russian troops into Ukraine, there should not be neutrality on this issue.
On January 25, the executive committee of the International Olympic Committee allowed the return of Russian and Belarusian athletes to international competitions without the right to represent their states. It was proposed to allow only those athletes who did not support Russia’s actions in the special operation.
Ukraine accused the IOC of bribery from Russia and also announced a possible boycott of the Olympic Games. Later, Poland also threatened to boycott the 2024 Olympics if Russian and Belarusian athletes participated in the games. The ministries of sports of Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, as well as the national Olympic committees and sports federations of Northern Europe – Norway, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, the Faroe Islands, Greenland and Aland islands.
Read more about the joint statement of the Nordic countries in the material “Russia is being blocked from the north”.
