Ukraine fiercely objects as IOC allows ‘neutral’ teams from Russia to compete in 2024 Olympics
- The International Olympic Committee indicated it favours officially neutral teams from Russia and its ally Belarus at the 2024 Olympics
- Russia typically competes as part of Europe but has tense relationships with many countries hosting qualifying events there after the invasion of Ukraine
Russia’s path to sending a team to the Paris Olympics next year became clearer on Thursday amid fierce objections from Ukraine.
The International Olympic Committee indicated on Wednesday it favours officially neutral teams from Russia and its ally Belarus at the 2024 Olympics, despite a plea from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to exclude them entirely.
A day later, Russia and Belarus were invited to compete at the Asian Games, a key Olympic qualifier.
Russia typically competes as part of Europe but has a tense relationship with many of the countries set to host qualifying events there. Russia and Belarus have been barred from almost all international competitions in Olympic sports following the invasion of Ukraine.
Zelensky has said he told French President Emmanuel Macron, whose country is hosting the Olympics, that Russia should have “no place” there. Ukraine is seeking to rally support against the IOC-brokered plan.
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“IOC has been disregarding Russian war crimes, claiming that ‘No athlete should be prevented from competing just because of their passport’, while Ukrainian athletes continue to be killed by Russia because of their passports,” Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba wrote on Twitter on Thursday.