Olympic summit opens the door to the presence of Russians and Belarusians as neutrals in Paris 2024

An Olympic summit on Tuesday defended the participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes as neutral participants in Paris 2024, calling on the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to make a decision “as quickly as possible” to clarify “qualifying procedures.”

“Representatives of international summer sports federations called on the IOC to recognize all AINs as eligible to participate in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games [atletas individuais neutros] who have qualified or will qualify for the competition. They also call for a decision to be taken as quickly as possible to clarify the procedures for their Olympic qualification and for all participating athletes,” reads the list of conclusions of this summit.

Under the leadership of IOC President Thomas Bach, the 12th Olympic Summit, held in the Swiss city of Lausanne, opened the door to the presence of Russian and Belarusian athletes at the next Olympic Games as neutrals, noting that their participation “in a huge number of Events under “strict conditions” took place without incident, “with only one notable exception.”

“At the summit it was informed that, despite the suspension of the activities of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC), the IOC has not changed its recommendations regarding the participation of AIN on strict conditions. It was emphasized that the protection of the rights of individual athletes to participate in competitions Although the suspension of National Olympic Committees (NOCs) is a consolidated practice that respects human rights, it was applied in several NOCs suspended at past Olympic Games,” it said in the statement.

The IOC suspended the activities of the Russian Olympic Committee because it decided on October 5 to unilaterally integrate regional sports associations from Ukrainian territories under the jurisdiction of the Ukrainian Olympic Committee, namely Zaporozhye, Donetsk, Lugansk and Kherson, but has not yet done so. decided on the participation of Russians and Belarusians in the Paris 2024 Games, which will be held from July 26 to August 11.

Russia and Belarus have been excluded from several sporting events since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. However, some athletes were allowed to compete subject to conditions, namely that they must compete under a neutral flag.

“Following these calls, the IOC has confirmed that the participation of these AINs in the Olympic Games can only take place under strict conditions. Neither the qualification system established by the relevant International Federations nor the number of quotas allocated for a particular sport will be changed for AIN. with a Russian or Belarusian passport. They will have to meet the selection criteria applicable to any Olympic athlete,” says paragraph 14 of the communiqué following the Olympic Summit.

However, the meeting participants, including the presidents of international federations, continental associations or the president of the World Anti-Doping Agency, confirmed the “continuous solidarity and support” of Ukrainian athletes and the Ukrainian Olympic Committee from “the whole world.” Olympic Movement”.

The Olympic summit also highlighted the “very difficult geopolitical situation in the world, where there are too many wars and conflicts” ahead of the Olympic Games, which they hope will be a “symbol of peace and unity.”

“The Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games will be the first Olympic Games with gender parity. Participants [na Cimeira] welcomed the fact that the IOC, together with international federations, changed the qualification quotas and sports program, as a result of which the quotas were distributed equally: 50% for women and 50 for men,” the participants noted, and also stated that the next Games will be “younger, more inclusive, more urban and more sustainable.”