The Ukrainian Sports Minister, Vadim Gutzeit, announced that Ukrainian athletes will only participate in the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris if athletes from Russia and Belarus are prohibited from competing under their national flags. In an interview with Kyodo News, Gutzeit stated, “If the Russian Federation and the Belarusian Federation will participate under their own flag, we will not participate in this Olympics.” This statement reflects Ukraine’s opposition to the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) decision to allow Russian and Belarusian athletes to return to international competition under certain conditions.
Earlier this year, the IOC announced that it would reconsider its blanket ban on all athletes from Russia and Belarus. The new recommendations stated that these athletes could compete without their national flags and anthems. Additionally, they must have never been contracted to the Russian or Belarusian militaries or security agencies, and must never have publicly supported Russia’s military operation in Ukraine. However, the IOC made it clear that these recommendations only apply to individual athletes and not to teams, which they believe should remain banned.
Ukraine, along with several other European countries like Poland and Germany, initially rejected the IOC’s decision. Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky even called for a complete boycott of the Olympic Games and any other international competitions where athletes from Russia and Belarus were allowed to participate. However, last month, Ukraine softened its stance and allowed its athletes to perform at international competitions as long as Russians and Belarusians were present as neutral athletes.
Moscow has strongly criticized the IOC’s recommendations, calling them “unreasonable, legally void, and excessive.” Stanislav Pozdnyakov, the President of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC), argued that requiring athletes to compete under a neutral flag amounts to a “human rights abuse” and goes against Olympic principles and the UN Charter. The Russian and Belarusian governments are now faced with the unresolved issue of whether their athletes will be able to participate in the 2024 Olympic Games.
The 2024 Olympic Games are scheduled to take place in Paris from July 26 to August 11. Invitations have already been issued to all countries except Russia and Belarus. The final decision on the participation of athletes from these two nations is yet to be determined.
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