IOC responded to London’s appeal for athletes from Russia
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) reacted strongly to the British government’s call to prevent athletes from Russia and Belarus from participating in the Olympic Games (IO). The IOC’s position is set out in questions and answers posted on the committee’s website on Monday 13 March.
“Governments should not decide who can play sports because that would be the end of international sports competitions, world championships and the Olympic Games as we know them,” the International Olympic Committee said.
“We sincerely hope that the British government respects the autonomy of sport, which it has emphasized in many UN decisions, declarations and resolutions,” the committee added.
“We are striving to find a solution that is consistent with the sport’s mission – to unite and not contribute to increased confrontation or escalation,” the IOC stressed.
Messages from the British Sports Minister to the sponsors of the 2024 Games
Earlier, the head of the UK Ministry of Culture, Media and Sport, Lucy Fraser, sent letters outlining London’s position to the sponsors of the 2024 Games – Coca-Cola, Intel, Samsung and Visa, which have representative offices in UK. “We know that sport and politics in the Russian Federation and Belarus are closely linked, and we have firmly decided that regimes in Russia and Belarus should not be allowed to use sport for propaganda purposes,” the messages read. . They were addressed to a total of 13 official IOC global partners, including Airbnb and Deloitte.
Earlier, the Seimas in Lithuania adopted a resolution in which it called on all the world’s parliaments to “express their clear and strong disagreement” with any proposal to allow Russian and Belarusian athletes and officials to participate in the Olympic Games or other international competitions, including under a neutral flag.
All 109 members of the Lithuanian parliament voted to maintain restrictions until Russia stops its full-scale military aggression against Ukraine.
IOC Terms
The International Olympic Committee is looking at ways to allow Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete as neutral athletes, subject to a number of conditions.
First, athletes must not “in any way represent their state or any other organization in their country”.
The second condition is that only athletes who “have not opposed the IOC’s peacekeeping mission by actively supporting the war in Ukraine” and have complied with all anti-doping rules can compete.
The Paris Olympics will take place from July 26 to August 11, 2024.
Source: DW
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