Olympics 2024: Forty countries against the presence of Russians and Belarusians?

Olympics 2024: Forty countries against the presence of Russians and Belarusians?

According to the Polish Minister of Sports, no less than forty countries could decide next week against the presence of Russian and Belarusian athletes at the Paris Olympic Games in 2024.

Next Friday, a videoconference will bring together the sports ministers of many countries, and the subject of the presence of Russian and Belarusian athletes at the Paris Olympic Games in 2024 will of course be discussed. And according to Polish Sports Minister Kamil Bortniczuk, a strong decision could come out of this meeting. “ I think next week will reveal a very strong attitude from representatives of 40 countries. These will be at least the countries of the European Union, Great Britain, the United States and Canada. Their position will be very clearly opposed to the participation of Russians and Belarusians in the Olympic Games”. However, the Minister does not yet want to talk about a boycott, with 539 days left before the opening ceremony on the Seine: “I don’t think we will have to make difficult decisions before the Olympic Games and, if we were to boycott the Games, the coalition we will be part of will be large enough to make holding the Games unnecessary. »

The Russians and Belarusians under a neutral banner?

Last week, the International Olympic Committee said that “no athlete should be banned from competition on the basis of their passport alone” and offered a roadmap for organizing their return under a neutral flag, provided that they did not actively support the war in Ukraine. To which Ukraine, but also Latvia, had replied that they would boycott the Olympics in the event of the presence of Russian and Belarusian athletes. On Thursday, the United States let it be known, through White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre, that if Russian and Belarusian athletes were present in Paris, they absolutely had to be there under a neutral banner, without anthem, flag or emblem. To date, no deadline has been set for taking a decision on this extremely sensitive subject.

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