IOC must not open door to Russians, says Paris mayor
The row over whether Russian athletes should compete at next year’s Paris Olympics has escalated after the mayor of the city outlined opposition to their inclusion under a neutral flag.
The International Olympic Committee has announced a potential “pathway for athletes’ participation”, subject to not publicly supporting the war in Ukraine and competing as “neutral athletes”, citing a belief among stakeholders that “no athlete should be prevented from competing just because of their passport”.
Russian athletes have not competed under their country’s name at any Olympics since 2016 because of the state-sponsored doping scandal and, after the invasion of Ukraine, were banned from major events such as last year’s World Cup and Wimbledon.
Ukraine has threatened to boycott the Olympics if Russian or Belarusian athletes are permitted to compete under a neutral flag and appears to have won the support of Anne Hidalgo, the Paris mayor.
“As long as Russia continues to wage war on Ukraine, I don’t want there to be a Russian delegation at the Paris ’24 Games – I would find that indecent,” she said. “It is not conceivable [for Russian athletes] to march as if nothing had happened, to have a delegation come to Paris while the bombs are still raining down on Ukraine.”
French president Emmanuel Macron, however, has joined the IOC in appearing to open the door to Russians competing, saying that “sport should not be politicised… these major events are meant to allow athletes from all countries, sometimes including countries at war, to bring sport to life”.
The prospect of Russians competing in Paris has prompted Olympic gold medallist and former world heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko to issue a video address to Thomas Bach, the IOC president.
“You are the representative of the universal values of tolerance and peace,” said Klitschko, whose brother Vitali is the mayor of Kyiv. “The Russians are Olympic champions in crimes against civilians. You cannot put your Olympic emblem on these crimes because you will be an accomplice with this abominable war. Do not do this.”
Kamil Bortniczuk, Poland’s sports minister, has said as many as 40 countries could boycott Paris if athletes from Russia and its ally Belarus were allowed to compete.