The 2024 Olympics will be held in Paris, and the International Olympic Committee will send invitations to 203 countries, excluding Russia and Belarus.

The IOC has not yet made a decision regarding Russian and Belarusian athletes

If the body from Lausanne insists since March that it will solve “in a timely manner” the delicate issue of the presence under a neutral flag of Russian and Belarusian athletes in Paris, the unknown remains about the management of official invitations, traditionally addressed to the Olympic Games by national committees a year before the opening ceremony, reports AFP, reports Agerpres.

The IOC put an end to the mood on Thursday, updating on its website “questions and answers” drawn up in the spring after recommending to international federations to reintegrate Russian and Belarusian athletes into their competitions. the condition that they did not actively support the war on the part of Ukraine, starting from February 2022.

Therefore, the IOC said that on July 26 it will send invitations for the next summer games to “the 203 relevant national Olympic committees”, excluding Russia and Belarus, “as well as the games in Guatemala”, which have been suspended since October. 2022 due to political interference.

The IOC briefly confirmed that it will make a decision on the possible participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes whenever it wants, “without being bound by the results of the previous qualifying tests at the Olympics.”

Even if the IOC accepts athletes from the two countries under a neutral flag, their presence has already been declared limited: their participation in collective sports or team trials “cannot be taken into account”, the organization has been repeating since March, and the International Association of Athletics Federations (a major Olympic sport sports) still refuses to oppress them in their competitions.