The participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes in the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris is possible only if “the war against Ukraine is stopped.” This was announced on the radio station France Info today, February 7, the mayor of the French capital, Anne Hidalgo.
She spoke out against the admission of Russians and Belarusians to competitions, even if they observe strict neutrality. According to Hidalgo, “you cannot allow a country that has attacked another country to speak as if nothing had happened and allow a delegation to come to Paris while bombs continue to fall on Ukraine.”
At the same time, the Parisian mayor said that she had changed her position on this issue. Back in January, she allowed the participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes under a neutral flag – “so as not to deprive them of competitions.” But it was a compromise that she now considers “indecent,” the mayor of Paris explained.
At the end of January, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) issued a statement in which it expressed solidarity with Ukrainian athletes and intention to do everything so that they could take part in the 2024 and 2026 Summer and Winter Olympics in Paris and Milan, respectively. The same document pointed out the unacceptability of the removal of athletes from competitions only on the basis of their passports.
The IOC proposed to give Russian and Belarusian athletes the opportunity to return to participation in international competitions, from which they were suspended after the outbreak of the conflict in Ukraine. At the same time, two conditions were put forward: the neutral status of the athletes, that is, the absence of a national flag, anthem and other attributes indicating their belonging to Russia or Belarus, as well as strict anti-doping control and the fact that they support the peaceful mission of the IOC.
A number of countries, including Poland and the Baltic states, opposed the return of Russians and Belarusians to international competitions, Deutsche Welle recalls this Tuesday* (foreign media, recognized in the Russian Federation as a foreign agent). In their opinion, admission “under the guise of neutrality” would legitimize the political decisions of Moscow and Minsk, “the propaganda widely disseminated there.”
In Kyiv, the proposal of the IOC was sharply criticized and announced a boycott of the Olympics in Paris if Russians and Belarusians were admitted.
*An organization that performs the functions of a foreign agent.
