Ukraine will put pressure on the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to prevent Russian athletes from taking part in the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Vadim Gutsayt said on Tuesday.
“Probably, the IOC will understand that while there is a war in Ukraine, the return of Russian and Belarusian athletes is not timely,” said Minister Vadim Gutsayt in an interview with the French news agency AFP.
Russian and Belarusian athletes were banned from participating in international sports competitions after Moscow’s offensive on Ukraine in February 2022.
But as early as 2022, the IOC set the stage for their return as individual athletes under a neutral flag, and only if those athletes were not “actively” supporting the invasion or serving in the Russian armed forces.
The IOC has not yet announced a final decision on the conditional participation of Russian athletes in next year’s Games. This situation led the Ukrainian authorities to accuse the international organization of facilitating the war.
The body, chaired by Thomas Bach, published an opinion on March 28 leaning towards re-admission of Russian and Belarusian athletes to the Olympic qualifying process, but always with restrictions such as neutrality, the absence of national symbols, or outright opposition to the Russian invasion. Ukraine.
Following the IOC announcement, the Ukrainian government said that national federations that allow their athletes to compete alongside Russian athletes may lose their official status as national federations representing the country, led by Volodymyr Zelensky.