Zelenskyy urges partners to protect Olympic Games from Russians and Belarusians
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has urged his partners to prevent Russian athletes from participating in the 2024 Summer Olympics in the French capital of Paris.
Source: Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Twitter
Quote: "Against the backdrop of continued Russian aggression and devastating war crimes, the IOC is 'exploring ways' to permit Russian athletes to participate in the Paris Olympics.
Details:
We urge partners to join our marathon of honesty, counter these efforts, and protect the Olympic Charter."
Zelenskyy has appended a video to the appeal, saying that Russian attacks have destroyed 343 sports venues and killed 231 athletes in Ukraine.
Among those killed are an 11-year-old gymnast, Katia Diachenko, who perished back in March 2022 in Mariupol, and a 25-year-old figure skater, Dmytro Sharpar, who died on 23 January 2023 in Bakhmut.
Allowing Russian athletes to compete for Olympic medals against the backdrop of the war would violate the Olympic Charter, and under the guise of "apoliticality", Paris could see Russian flags and the "Z" signs of the Russian invaders [the Russian forces use the "Z" symbol to distinguish their military equipment, and Russia also uses different variations of this symbol in propaganda – ed.], the video says.
Against the backdrop of continued Russian aggression and devastating war crimes, the IOC is “exploring ways” to permit Russian athletes to participate in the Paris Olympics. We urge partners to join our marathon of honesty, counter these efforts, and protect the Olympic Charter. pic.twitter.com/JlFT49hO5K
— Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) February 8, 2023
Background: On 27 January, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced the beginning of a Marathon of Honesty, aimed at cleansing hypocrisy from the international Olympic leadership and preventing any attempts to bring representatives of Russia back into world sport.
Thomas Bach, President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), said that he is willing to "explore the possibility" of allowing athletes from Russia and Belarus to return to participating in international sports, even though this could lead to a boycott of the competition by Ukraine. Bach believes that excluding athletes because of their passports is not in line with the values and mission of the Olympic Charter, so Russians and Belarusians could be allowed to participate in the 2024 Paris Games under a neutral flag.
On 28 January, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote to the presidents of the world's leading sports federations, urging them to take a position on the International Olympic Committee's decision to reinstate Russian athletes in international competitions.
On 7 February, Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo said she did not want Russian athletes to participate in the 2024 Olympic Games in the French capital.
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