ISTANBUL
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) decided Friday to allow Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete at the Paris 2024 games as neutrals, without flags, emblems or anthems.
“The Executive Board of the International Olympic Committee has decided that Individual Neutral Athletes who have qualified through the existing qualification systems of the International Federations on the field of play will be declared eligible to compete at the Olympic Games Paris 2024 in accordance with the conditions outlined below. Individual Neutral Athletes are athletes with a Russian or Belarusian passport,” the IOC said in a statement.
“No flag, anthem, colors or any other identifications whatsoever of Russia or Belarus will be displayed at the Olympic Games Paris 2024 in any official venue or any official function,” it added.
The IOC also said that athletes who actively support the war in Ukraine will not be eligible while any support personnel who do so will also not be entered.
It said that no Russian or Belarusian government or state officials would be invited to or accredited for the Paris Games.
Ukraine condemns IOC’s decision
Ukraine condemned the IOC’s decision to allow the participation of Russians and Belarusians.
“For our part, we explained to international partners and the Olympic Committee that Russian athletes have the same passports as the occupiers who are killing Ukrainians. And this means that they bear part of the responsibility for the deaths of Ukrainians. In time of war, it will not be possible to hide behind the white flag of ‘neutrality,’” Ukraine’s Acting Minister of Youth and Sports, Matviy Bidnyi, said on social media.
“Neutrality at a time when the bloodiest war since World War II is going on in Europe and one nation is trying to destroy another means irresponsibility and tacit acquiescence to murderers,” he added.
Since the start of the war, Russian and Belarussian athletes have been banned or restricted from various competitions worldwide.
In March, the IOC, headed by Germany’s Thomas Bach, recommended allowing Russian and Belarussian athletes to return to competitions as neutral athletes.
