“When bombs rain on Ukraine”
Paris doesn’t want Russians at the Olympics
2/7/2023 1:49 p.m
New movement in the controversy about the readmission of Russian and Belarusian athletes before the Summer Olympics in Paris 2024: The mayor of the French capital believes that the athletes from both countries cannot return under the current circumstances.
The controversy surrounding the possible participation of athletes from Russia and Belarus in the Summer Olympics in Paris in 2024 is spreading. Anne Hidalgo, the mayor of the host city, has spoken out against athletes from both countries competing under strict neutrality “as long as there is war” in Ukraine. She told radio station France Info.
Under the prevailing circumstances, she believes it is “unthinkable that we would allow a country that is attacking another country to march as if nothing had happened. That a delegation would come to Paris while the bombs continued to rain down on Ukraine,” she said the 63 year old. In an interview at the end of January, Hidalgo spoke out in favor of participating “under a neutral banner” so as not to “take the athletes away from their competition”. This was a compromise that she now sees as “indecent”.
IOC has already threatened Ukraine
In its concept presented at the end of January, the International Olympic Committee (IOC), which expressly proposes a start of “neutral athletes” from Russia and Belarus without flags, national colors and anthems, refers to expertise from the United Nations (UN) and great support in the international sports community. Several government representatives and athletes, especially from Europe, had recently opposed the admission of athletes from both countries under strict neutrality out of solidarity with Ukraine, which was attacked by Russia with the help of its ally Belarus in February 2022.
Ukraine, which has been suffering from Russia’s war of aggression for almost a year, has already threatened to boycott the summer games. The IOC has condemned this threat to boycott Ukraine. The threat violates the fundamentals of the Olympic Movement and the principles it stands for. “It is extremely unfortunate that this discussion can escalate at this early stage with a boycott threat,” it said last week.
“A boycott is a violation of the Olympic Charter, which obliges all NOCs to participate in the Games of the Olympiad by sending athletes,” the IOC said. As history has shown, previous boycotts have not achieved their political goals and have only served to punish the athletes of the boycotting National Olympic Committees (NOC).