Anne Hidalgo does not “want” Russian athletes “as long as there is war” in Ukraine

“Not while there is war“. More than a year from the Olympic and Paralympic Games in France, the mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo says she is opposed to the presence of Russian athletes in Ukraine, she said Tuesday, February 7 live on franceinfo.

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Questioned by Salhia Brakhlia and Marc Fauvelle, Anne Hidalgo indicated that “if the decision is up to the IOC”, she will not “don’t want” Russian athletes at the 2024 Paris Olympics. “As long as there is this war, this Russian aggression on Ukraine, it is not possible to march as if nothing had happened, to have a delegation come to Paris, while the bombs continue to rain about Ukraine” she said on franceinfo.

“We are not going to scroll a country that is attacking another”

During a previous interview at the end of January, the mayor of the host city said she was in favor of their participation “under a neutral banner” in order not “deprive athletes of their competition“, a compromise that she now judges”indecent“.

“Actually, [une bannière neutre], it doesn’t really exist because sometimes there are athletes who are dissidents. They parade and compete under the banner of the refugees. The neutral banner was a doping issue and that was the choice they made. I am not in favor of this option. I would find that totally indecent. […] In any case, we are not going to scroll through a country that is in the process of attacking another and pretend that it does not exist. So I am not in favor of there being a Russian delegation at the Paris Olympics a fortiori obviously if the war still takes place, which I do not wish“, she explained.

Finally, if the International Olympic Committee (IOC) authorizes the presence of a Russian flag during the events, Anne Hidalgo assures that it will not be “disagree with this position“.”I will express myself before, because we still have a little time before deciding“, she concluded.