In a resolution adopted on Thursday 22 June, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe calls on the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to maintain its position expressed in 2022 and to ban the participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes in the 2024 Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games.
The IOC’s efforts to define the criteria allowing them to participate as “neutral” competitors “cannot provide the necessary guarantees and will not constitute a response worthy of the values of human dignity and peace enshrined in the Olympic Charter”, say the parliamentarians.
They point to the certainty that participation would be used for propaganda purposes by Moscow and Minsk and would prevent other sportsmen and women, particularly Ukrainians, from taking part in the games.
They also reject the arguments in favour of the independence of sport and non-discrimination, which “do not carry sufficient weight faced with the imperative of condemning and repudiating the atrocities being committed, and of demonstrating the international community’s complete and unwavering support for Ukraine as the onslaught continues”.
Another point highlighted was the fact that Russian and Belarusian athletes receive state salaries and often belong to military teams.
Link to the Resolution: https://aeur.eu/f/7o3 (Original version in French by Véronique Leblanc)