Russia will not boycott Paris 2024 Olympic Gamesassured the president of the Russian Olympic Committee, Stanislav Pozdniakovadding that Each athlete in the country will be free to choose whether they wish to participate under a neutral flag or not.
“A boycott of the Games leads nowhere”declared Pozdniakov in a meeting with the press on the occasion of a congress of Russian Olympic athletes that will conclude on Friday.
The leader recalled the boycott of the Moscow Olympic Games 1980 by Western countries, as a protest against the Soviet military intervention in Afghanistan in 1979.
“Athletes could not participate in the competitions and the political boycott had very negative results: neither party won”he stressed Pozdniakovinsisting thatand “sport must distance itself from politics.”
Most Russian athletes cannot participate in international competitions after the invasion of Ukraine by Russia in 2022.
But International Olympic Committee (IOC) recommended in March the reintegration of Russian and Belarusian athletes in international competitions, under a neutral flag and “on an individual basis” if they did not actively support the offensive in Ukraine.
According to Pozdniakovall Russian athletes will be able to participate in the Games 2024 under a neutral flag: if they wish and are authorized by the IOC.
“We live in a free country, each athlete is free to choose; show solidarity with their colleagues who will not be able to participate in the Games for invented reasons or decide to participate under a neutral flag”said Pozdniakov.
The leader stressed that “IOC recommendations” were “prohibitive by nature” and they would not allow “a large number of Russian athletes participate in the Games”.
Russian athletes participated in the Tokyo Games in 2021under a neutral flag, due to the sanction for the revelation of the State doping policy in Russiamainly in the Sochi Winter Games in 2014.
Source: Ambito
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