The representatives of International Federations and of National Olympic Committees (NOCs) They requested the entry “as soon as possible” of Russian and Belarusian athletes under a neutral flag for Paris’2024 Gamesaccording to a press release issued at the close of XII Olympic Summit.
This closed-door meeting, organized at the headquarters of International Olympic Committee (IOC) in Lausanne (Switzerland)The conditional reintegration of the two countries into world sport began last year and, more broadly, allows them to establish majority positions within Olympic sport.
However, the signal this year is clear: the president of the IOC Athletes’ Commission, the Finnish Emma Terho“also expressed its approval of this request” from the Federations and Committees, stating that “in general, most athletes should not be punished for the actions of their governments.”
And, although the IOC has insisted since March that it will decide on a possible entry of the Russians and Belarusians “at the appropriate time,” it added that “the athletes are grateful for the clarification on this issue because the Paris Olympic Games fast approaching.”
For its part, the IOC limited itself to “confirming that the participation of neutral individual athletes in the Olympic Games can only take place under strict conditions” set in March for their return to international competition: under a neutral flag, excluding team sports and on the condition that Russia does not actively support the war launched in Ukraine.
“Neither the classification system developed by the International Federations, nor the number of places assigned to a sport will be changed for neutral athletes who have a Russian or Belarusian passport,” the IOC continued without specifying when it will decide the matter.
Source: La Verdad
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