kyiv threatens to boycott the 2024 Olympics if Russia is not excluded


Ukraine has said it is preparing to boycott the Paris Olympics if Russia takes part. Anne Hidalgo is considering another solution.





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The Paris 2024 Olympics will be held from July 26 to August 11.
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Un year and a half before the opening of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, pressure is already being felt on the side of the organizers concerning the presence, or not, of Russian and Belarusian athletes. kyiv brandished the threat, Thursday, January 26, of a Ukrainian boycott if Russia and Belarus were invited to participate in the competition. This possibility was mentioned Thursday by the mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, who said she wanted Russian athletes to participate under a neutral banner.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) for its part drew a roadmap on Wednesday to reintegrate them into world sport. “Such a situation is unacceptable for our state,” Ukrainian Sports Minister Vadym Goutzeit reacted on Thursday.

“If we are not heard…”

According to him, kyiv is currently pressuring the IOC and other international organizations to obtain the banning of Russians and Belarusians from the Olympics. “Our position remains unchanged: as long as the war continues in Ukraine, Russian and Belarusian athletes should not participate in international competitions,” Vadym Goutzeit continued on Facebook. “If we are not heard, I do not exclude the possibility that we boycott the Olympics and refuse to participate,” he added.

On Tuesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had already demanded from his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, that the Russians be banned from the next Olympics, scheduled for less than two years.

READ ALSOOlympic Games 2024: how to get a ticketThe International Olympic Committee said on Wednesday that “no athlete should be banned from competition on the sole basis of his passport” after consulting representatives of athletes, international federations and national Olympic committees.

Behind this proclamation of principle, a series of behind-the-scenes maneuvers were initiated last fall to bring Russians and Belarusians back into the fold of Olympism, excluded from most international competitions since the invasion of Ukraine.


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