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Ukraine continues to press to exclude Russia and Belarus from the 2024 Olympics

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Ukraine is transferring to its allies the same fervor with which it procured heavy tanks and other weapons a campaign to prevent Russian and Belarusian athletes from participating in the Olympic Games summer 2024.

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President Volodymyr Zelensky has made it the subject of his nightly speech several times in recent days, also calling the head of the International Olympic Committee by name. He wrote a letter to the president of France, Emmanuel Macron, host country of the Games. And he raised the issue with the leader of Denmark and the president-elect of the Czech Republic.

On Tuesday, he made his last request to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo.

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“The Olympic movement and international sport in general must be protected from the usual Russian attempts to politicize sport,” Zelensky said in his speech late Tuesday night. “Russia’s politicization of sport will inevitably mean the justification of terror. This must not be allowed.”

The relentless nature of Zelensky’s message about the Olympics reflects his focus on lobbying the United States and Europe for advanced weaponry.: Continued public calls that have bordered on accusations that the Allies are abandoning Ukraine. At every opportunity, these countries have complied with the requests, sometimes reluctantly.

Now Zelensky’s wrath is directed at the Olympics. The Games have nothing to do with geopolitics, although it is often a backdrop. But sports organizations – including those for tennis, figure skating and track and field – have struggled to respond to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Last month, the Russian and Belarusian flags were banned from the Australian Open tennis after fans display a Russian flag in a match between a Russian and a Ukrainian athlete.

The International Olympic Committee said last week it would continue to explore ways for athletes from Russia and Belarus, who have supported Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, to compete at the 2024 Games in Paris. One option could be for the athletes to compete individually and not wear their countries’ names, flags or colors, as long as they have not actively supported the war.

Wladimir Klitschko, a former heavyweight boxing champion and brother of Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko, publicly warned Bach that he and the IOC risked being “accomplices in this abominable war”.

Russia has been banned from international sports competitions since 2019 due to a doping scandalg, although individual athletes have been permitted to compete in the Olympic Games.

The Russian delegation has called for full participation in the Paris Games, but the IOC on Tuesday rejected calls to allow the country’s athletes to compete without restrictions.

A day before, Mykhailo Podolyak, one of Zelensky’s top advisers accused the Olympic Committee of offering Russia “a platform to promote genocide”. The IOC called his comments “defamatory” in a statement, saying they could not “serve as a basis for constructive debate”.

The head of the Russian Olympic Committee, Stanislav Pozdnyakov, said restrictions such as the disqualification of athletes who had supported the war would be “unacceptable”, according to TASS, a Russian state news agency.

“Russians should be able to compete on the same terms as athletes from other countries”, he has declared. “There should be no direct reference establishing approval or disapproval of this special military operation.”

The IOC responded to Pozdnyakov’s comments by saying his sanctions against Russia and Belarus were “non-negotiable”. He also reiterated rules that ban these countries from hosting IOC-affiliated sporting events, among other restrictions.

Ukraine has garnered some support for its stance, including from British and German officials.

c.2023 The New York Times Society

Source: Clarin

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