Polish PM slams IOC for letting russian athletes compete at Olympics

Prime Minister of Poland, Mateusz Morawiecki, criticized the International Olympic Committee's (IOC) decision to allow russian and belarusian athletes to compete under certain conditions.

Rubryka reports, citing the prime minister's Twitter, that Morawiecki believes that the IOC's decision to return russian athletes to the competition is a scandal and a betrayal of the true spirit of sport.

"I instructed the Minister of Sports to convey our strong objection to the leadership of the IOC. We will do everything possible to ensure that sport is free from russian influence," the Polish prime minister wrote.

Earlier, the Minister of Internal Affairs of Germany, Nancy Faeser, strongly condemned the decision of the IOC and called it a "slap to Ukrainian athletes."

On March 28, the IOC Executive Committee adopted a recommendation to international sports federations to return russian and belarusian athletes but set several conditions.

The conditions, in particular, provide that athletes with russian or belarusian passports compete only as neutral individual athletes.

Athletes and personnel actively supporting the war cannot compete. We are talking about everyone who represents the army or other state security institutions of the russian federation and those who publicly supported the russian invasion of Ukraine.

It's just recommendations. Federations will make the final decision in individual sports.

The decision on the participation of athletes from russia and belarus in the 2024 Olympics has not yet been considered.