Paris. Russians and Belarusians competing at the Paris 2024 Olympics as neutral individual athletes without their flag or emblem will be allowed to take part in the closing ceremony on Sunday, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced.
Athletes were not allowed to take part in the opening ceremony on July 26, when teams paraded on boats down the River Seine.
“The IOC Executive Board has decided that Neutral Individual Athletes (NIA) may participate in the Closing Ceremony of the Olympic Games Paris 2024,” the IOC said in a statement on Saturday.
“The decision was made on the basis that it is not the teams that enter the Closing Ceremony, but all the athletes together, as well as the general conduct and respect for the principles of participation of AIN athletes during the Games. There will be no AIN flag.”
Teams from Russia and Belarus were banned from the Games over the invasion of Ukraine.
Only a few athletes have been cleared by the IOC to compete as AIN after undergoing a screening process designed to eliminate anyone who has publicly supported the war or had direct ties to the military.
A total of 32 athletes from Russia and Belarus competed in Paris and only a few remain in the French capital.
Russian authorities complained that the restrictions were unfair and discriminatory, and many of the athletes allowed to compete in Paris turned down offers to compete as neutrals.
The IOC suspended the Russian Olympic Committee in October 2023 for recognising the Olympic councils of the Russian-occupied regions of Ukraine: Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhia.
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– 2024-08-16 06:31:17
