“The members of the Executive Board of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) who made this decision are responsible for encouraging Russia and Belarus to continue their armed aggression against Ukraine,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine stated.
Since February 2022, when Russia launched its offensive in Ukraine, Russian and Belarusian athletes have been subject to sanctions in many sports. But over the past year, several Olympic sports have eased restrictions and allowed a return to competition under certain conditions.
Moscow has condemned the conditions for the 2024 Paris Olympics as discriminatory, but said athletes who can meet them will go.
According to the International Olympic Committee (IOC), currently eleven athletes – eight from Russia and three from Belarus – meet the requirements of neutral athletes.
Kyiv said that Russian athletes often represent sports organizations linked to the armed forces and that some of them serve in the Russian military.
The decision means that athletes of both sexes who “not only support the massacre of Ukrainian women and children, but may be directly involved in these terrible crimes” are allowed to compete, the Foreign Office said.
“The International Olympic Committee has effectively given Russia the green light to weaponize the Olympics,” she added.
The IOC said that athletes who have contracts with the military or national security services of Russia or Belarus will not be allowed to participate in the Olympics.
In addition, no Russian or Belarusian flag, colors or any other identifying marks would be displayed at any sporting event or meeting without the singing of the national anthem.
“Moscow will not raise white neutral flags (…), but will demonstrate the triumph of its ability to avoid responsibility for the largest armed conflict in Europe since World War II,” Ukraine said.
More than 60 Ukrainian athletes qualified for next year’s Olympic Games in Paris.
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2024-08-15 06:48:09
