by Elizabeth Pineau and Richard Lough
PARIS (Reuters) – Russia’s participation in the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris is challenged by the war in Ukraine and will have to be decided when the time comes, the mayor of Paris considered on Wednesday and presidential candidate, Anne Hidalgo.
In an interview with Reuters, the representative of the Socialist Party in the race for the Elysee Palace believes that the attitude of Russian President Vladimir Putin is not compatible with the Olympic spirit.
“We will have to review the situation in the light of what is happening. But what is happening today does not, in fact, put Russia in this concert of pacifist nations and in this Olympic truce, in this sport diplomacy that I believe in very much,” she said from her campaign headquarters.
“I am very pragmatic and we will make the decision when it needs to be taken,” added the mayor of Paris.
“Vladimir Putin violates international law, he does not recognize the existence of international law and multilateralism. This will of course have to be taken into account,” she added.
Re-elected in 2020 mayor of Paris for six years, Anne Hidalgo traveled to Japan in August to receive the Olympic flag at the end of the Tokyo Games.
Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, on February 24, Western countries have decided to sanction Russia, including on the sporting level. The International Football Federation (Fifa) and the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) have excluded “until further notice” the Russian selection and clubs from all the competitions they organise.
At the end of February, the Executive Board of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) recommended banning Russians and Belarusians from sports competitions. She also withdrew the “Olympic order” from all senior Russian officials, including President Vladimir Putin.
The question of Russia’s participation in the Olympic Games is a matter for the IOC.
In 1920, Austria, Bulgaria, Turkey, Hungary and Germany were banned from competing at the Antwerp Games. At the end of the Second World War, Germany and Japan did not participate in those of London in 1948.
(Report Elizabeth Pineau, Richard Lough and Noémie Olive, edited by Jean-Michel Bélot)