The International Olympic Committee (IOC) will “step by step” review its recommendations against Russian athletes, which led to their exclusion from almost all international competitions after the invasion of Ukraine, its president announced Thomas Bach on Friday. .
We have to go step by step, we don’t know how the situation will evolve. We hope there will be peace soon, best soon, but we can only monitor progresshe told reporters.
While most international federations followed the IOC’s recommendation at the end of February to ban Russians and Belarusians from their competitions, the question is already being asked about their future participation in the 2024 Olympics in Paris.
The Olympic body, which closed its 139th session that opened in February in Beijing on Friday, has refused to project so far and only promises that make appropriate decisions in case the situation changes.
We have a lot of consultations within the Olympic movementrecalled the German leader, to whom the priority of the IOC remains humanitarian assistance to the Ukrainian Olympic community, they are still there or have taken refuge abroad.
In front of members gathered for the session, he also assured that the expulsion of Russian sportsmen was not a matter of penaltiesbut of protection measurestaken heavy heartto maintain integrity of competitions.
The safety of Russian and Belarusian athletes participating in international competitions cannot be guaranteed, due to deep anti-Russian and anti-Belarusian feelings in many countries after the invasion. of Ukraine, Bach added.
The IOC’s argument is all the more important because many of these exclusion measures have been challenged by Russian authorities before the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), which has not yet reviewed these appeals on the merits.
Source: Radio-Canada
