GENEVA, Switzerland — The President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Thomas Bach, criticized the Ukrainian government on Thursday for having prevented some athletes from the country from taking part in qualifying competitions for the Paris Games which also included Russians and Belarusians.
Under this policy, Ukrainian athletes have been unable to travel to world or European championships in judo, fencing and taekwondo in recent weeks due to the presence of Russian and Belarusian athletes who had been approved as “neutrals”.
The IOC defined in March the conditions of “neutrality”, which consists of not publicly supporting the war in Ukraine, not having been active in the army since February 2022, as well as participating in the events without carrying the flag or the national colors.
“It is difficult to understand why the Ukrainian government is depriving its own athletes of the chance to qualify” for the Paris Games in 2024, Bach said during a virtual address.
According to him, the Ukrainian athletes have been “sanctioned by their own government”. He added that the IOC and Olympic sports federations want to help these athletes prepare for “any competition they want to participate in”.
Bach did not provide further details following the statement on whether the aid could materialize into financial support, and the IOC did not respond to a request for clarification from The Associated Press.
The IOC took a very strong stance against Russia in the early days of its invasion of Ukraine, urging sports federations to exclude any Russian athlete or official from international competitions and to strip Russia of its right to be the host of major events.
However, as the Paris Games approached, the IOC wanted to start reinstating some Russian athletes, arguing that excluding them solely because of their nationality would amount to discrimination and a violation of their rights as individuals.
On Thursday, Bach reiterated that the IOC’s mission must be to “support athletes from all over the world to enable them to achieve their Olympic dream.”
The Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky, meanwhile insisted that the “neutral” flag is covered in blood and in January he invited Bach to come and visit the town of Bakhmout, which was destroyed by the fighting.
2023-06-22 21:05:46
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