After a heated discussion of the recommendations of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on the participation of “athletes” from Russia and Belarus as supposedly “neutral athletes” in Olympic events, the IOC decided to clarify its position.
“No decision has been taken on the participation of athletes with a Russian or Belarusian passport at the Olympic Games Paris 2024. The topic under discussion is about their participation in international competitions in Asia in the forthcoming summer sport season. In none of the documents published by the IOC will you find a reference to the Olympic Games Paris 2024 for athletes with a Russian or Belarusian passport,” the IOC said in a new statement on February 2.
Mentioning Olympic Games Paris 2024, IOC added that “we cannot speculate about this question, not even knowing whether or how the first step will be taken”. Let us recall that our Association earlier applied to the IOC with a demand to carry out, in case of maintaining the position of the IOC on “neutral athletes”, their checks in relation to the occupation of the Crimea and possible illegal visits to the Crimea as actions that directly contradict the Olympic values.
Regarding this issue, in framework of question, who will be responsible for determining whether a russian or Belarussian athlete actively supports the war and what are the criteria to determine this, IOC pointed that “currently, an exploration of a primary concept for conditions of participation is underway. No decision has been taken. What the details could look like will have to be worked out and decided on. It is premature to try to answer this question at this stage”.
