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Zelensky asks Macron that Russian athletes not participate in the Games

Volodymyr Zelensky and Emmanuel Macron during a meeting in 2019. Panoramic.

Volodymyr Zelensky clarified to Emmanuel Macron “that Russian athletes should not have their place at the Paris Olympics” in 2024.

Russian athletes should not be able to participate in the Paris Olympics in 2024, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky asked his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday, as Russia invaded Ukraine for eleven months.

«I particularly insisted on the fact that Russian athletes should not have their place at the Paris Olympics“, declared on Telegram Mr. Zelensky after a telephone interview with the French head of state.

Russia invaded Ukraine from its territory and that of Belarus on February 24, three days after the closing ceremony of the Beijing-2022 Winter Games, in violation of the Olympic Truce (which extends from one week before the start of the Olympic Games to one week after the end of the Paralympic Games).

Thomas Bach and the IOC in permanent support for Ukraine

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) quickly sanctioned Moscow and Minsk. Since then, no international sporting events are organized or supported in Russia or Belarus and no national symbols of these countries are displayed during a sporting event.

In a New Year’s message, IOC President Thomas Bach indicated at the end of 2022 that he wanted to see his sporting sanctions extended into 2023. “These sanctions against Russian and Belarusian states and governments must and will remain firmly in place.“, he had launched.

«We want to see a strong team from (…) Ukraine in the 2024 Paris Olympics and the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics“, had said Mr. Bach, recalling “the total commitment of the IOC and the entire Olympic Movement in favor of this solidarity».

In mid-December, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky demanded that Russian athletes be placed in a “complete isolationof all international competitions.

Mr. Zelensky had also indicated to Mr. Bach his firm opposition to the position taken by the American Olympic and Paralympic Committee, which had said in mid-December that it was favorable to the participation of athletes from Russia and Belarus in the Paris Olympic Games on condition that ‘they don’t wear the colors of their countries.

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