Ukraine has said it is preparing to boycott the Paris Olympics if Russia joins. Anne Hidalgo considers another solution.
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© Alexandre MARCHI / MAXPPP / PHOTOPQR/L’EST REPUBLICAIN/MAXPP
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YOUA year and a half before the opening of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, pressure is already being felt on the part of the organizers about the presence or not of Russian and Belarusian athletes. Kiev threatened a Ukrainian boycott on Thursday, January 26 if Russia and Belarus were invited to participate in the contest. The possibility was mentioned on Thursday by Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo, who said she wanted Russian athletes to participate. under a neutral flag.
For its part, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on Wednesday drew up a roadmap to reintegrate them into world sport. “Such a situation is unacceptable for our state,” Ukrainian Sports Minister Vadym Goutzeit said on Thursday.
“If we are not heard…”
According to him, Kiev is currently putting pressure on the IOC and other international organizations to push for the exclusion of Russians and Belarusians from the Olympics. “Our position remains unchanged: as long as the war in Ukraine continues, Russian and Belarusian athletes are not allowed to participate in international competitions,” Vadym Goutzeit continued on Facebook. “If we are not heard, I do not rule out boycotting the Olympics and refusing to participate,” he added.
On Tuesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had already demanded that his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, exclude the Russians from the next Olympic Games, which are 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 excluded from competition on the basis of his passport,” after consultations with representatives of athletes, international federations and national Olympic committees.
Behind this statement of principles, a series of behind-the-scenes maneuvers were deployed 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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