35 countries push to exclude russians and belarusians from Olympics
Photo: President's Office
A group of 35 countries, including the US, Australia, Germany, France, the UK, and Japan, have agreed to demand that athletes from russia and belarus be banned from the 2024 Olympics, says Lithuanian Sports Minister Jurgita Šiugždinienė.
Reuters reports that this action puts additional pressure on the International Olympic Committee (IOC), which is struggling to save what is arguably the biggest athletic event in the world.
"We are going in the direction that we would not need a boycott because all countries are unanimous," said Šiugždinienė.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky took part in an online meeting with the participation of 35 ministers to discuss the call for a ban, the Lithuanian sports ministry spokesperson said.
According to the spokesperson, Zelensky's message to the meeting participants was that the principles of neutrality could not be applied to russia's invasion of Ukraine.
The Baltic States, Nordic countries, and Poland had earlier urged international sports organizations to prevent russian and belarusian athletes from competing in the Olympics while russia wages the war.
Poland Sports Minister Kamil Bortniczuk said that the compromise solution could be to create a refugee team, which would allow some russian and belarusian athletes to participate in competitions at the Olympic Games.
"It could be a compromise for the IOC to create a refugee team that could include people of russian and belarusian nationality who are dissidents," Bortniczuk said.
Earlier, the IOC opened the door for russian and belarusian athletes to compete as neutrals. It stated that the boycott would violate the Olympic Charter and that the inclusion of russians and belarusians in its composition is based on the UN resolution against discrimination in the Olympic movement.
The president of the International Olympic Committee, Thomas Bach, called on Ukraine to abandon threats of a boycott.
Later, Austrian Vice-Chancellor and Minister of Sports Werner Kogler said in a comment to Der Standard that the Austrian government considers it unacceptable for russian and belarusian athletes to participate in the 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris, France, arguing that a significant part of russian and belarusian athletes are military personnel, and the russian military won 45 out of 71 medals in Tokyo.
