UK urges Olympics’ sponsors to oppose russian, belarusian athletes

The government has written to the Olympic Games' biggest sponsors urging them to put pressure on the IOC over its proposals to allow russians and belarusians to compete again in international sport and the Paris 2024 Games.

UK's culture secretary Lucy Frazer called on the UK chief executives of the sponsors of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) worldwide, including Coca-Cola, Intel, Samsung, and Visa, to press the committee on keeping the ban on athletes from russia and belarus, the Guardian reports.

"We know sport and politics in russia and belarus are heavily intertwined, and we are determined that the regimes in russia and belarus must not be allowed to use sport for their propaganda purposes," her letter states.

Thirty-four countries called on the IOC on Feb. 20 to continue banning russia and belarus from competing in international sporting events, including the 2024 Olympic Games, in the wake of russia's war against Ukraine and numerous doping scandals.

France, which will host the Olympics in 2024, is one of the signatories.

On February 7, the mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo announced her reluctance to see russian athletes at the 2024 Olympic Games.

The International Fencing Federation (FIE) decided to cancel the suspension of athletes from russia and Serbia  from competitions under the organization's auspices. Starting in mid-April, representatives of the aggressor countries will be able to return to the track and fight for medals, despite the war in Ukraine.

On January 25, the IOC issued a statement calling for certain russian and belarusian athletes who do not support the war in Ukraine to be allowed to compete in sports under a neutral flag.

At the same time, the organization confirmed that sanctions against russia and belarus remain in force. It is forbidden to hold international competitions on the territory of both countries.

In response to this, the president of the National Olympic Committee of Ukraine, Vadym Gutzait, said that Ukraine may boycott the Olympic Games if russian and belarusian athletes are allowed to return to international sports competitions. However, he emphasized that this is an "extreme measure".

The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, also sent letters to the presidents of the leading international sports federations regarding the prohibition of russia's participation in the competitions. He referred to French President Emmanuel Macron, whose country will host the 2024 Olympic Games.

The Ukrainian leader said that the state is launching an international campaign to prevent russian athletes from competing at the Olympics.

A number of countries, including Poland and Great Britain, have already condemned the IOC's intentions. And Denmark did not even rule out the possibility of a boycott.

Latvia also declared that while russia's war against Ukraine continues, it will not participate in the Olympic Games together with athletes from the russian Federation and belarus.

Instead, the IOC rejected criticism from Ukraine, calling it "slanderous".