The French Minister of Sports, Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, confirmed that Strict adherence to the rules of neutrality of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to which Russian and Belarusian athletes must submit will be monitored. who wants to participate in the Paris Olympic Games this summer.
Oudéa-Castéra’s argumentin an interview this Wednesday on the France 2 channel, the IOC’s decision that, despite Moscow’s responsibility for the Ukrainian war, the Russians and Belarusians could participate at the Games in the name of protecting the values of the international community.
“In international law,” he said, “there is a principle of non-discrimination” and in the case of athletes of these two nationalities, they will meet the IOC criteria “because they did not support the war, and they have no relationship. .” with government agencies.
In any case, he insisted that “we will be very vigilant so that they are respected.”before recalling that the IOC “has the authority to decide who participates and who does not participate” and set rules so that Russians and Belarusians who want to be in Paris will have to compete without their country’s shirt, without anthem and respect for the Olympic Charter.
According to the minister, once the framework is set, it is about respecting it “until the end” and that “Russian power does not exploit sport for its own glory”, which means distancing itself from its “provocations”.
Asked about the possibility of a Russian athlete in competition waving the flag of his countrythe French minister assured that he “would not do it” because “it would not be possible” to access that space with the Russian flag.
On the other hand, Oudéa-Castéra France reiterated its commitment that the opening ceremony of the Games on July 26 will be held along a route along the Seine River in central Paristhus it was the first time that it took place in a space open to the public and not in a stadium, with the security problems this implies.
He confirmed that they are considering a plan B in case of force majeure: “If there is a restriction in the security context, with an increase in attacks on our territory, the president and the French clearly expect us to have of alternative capacity.”
But he emphasized that the ceremony with athletes on the Seine and hundreds of thousands of spectators on the banks (there is talk of 400,000, who have to reserve places and pass the controls) “is the project.”
“This is at the heart of our ambition for the iconic Games. That’s what we’re working on“with” some adjustment variables,” he added.
Regarding his country’s sporting ambitions, the minister said France’s goal is to be among the top five, from 10 gold medals at the last Tokyo Olympics to 16 or 17. At the Paralympic Games, the goal is to “double the number of title ” and go from 11 to “22, 23 or 24”.
Source: La Verdad
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