Emmanuel Macron will speak “in the summer” on the possible exclusion of Russian athletes from the Games

French President Emmanuel Macron said Thursday, February 9, that he had discussed with Volodymyr Zelensky, received the day before at the Elysée Palace, a possible exclusion of Russian athletes from the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, while specifying that he would speak personally. “in the summer”.

“We talked about it, I also explained how things stood”, said the French president on his arrival at a European summit in Brussels. At the end of January, the Ukrainian president had asked Emmanuel Macron that the Russians be banned because of the invasion launched almost a year ago by Moscow in Ukraine.

The IOC in favor of the participation of Russians under a neutral banner

Despite repeated appeals from Kyiv, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) is now pushing international federations to consider their participation “under neutral banner”. According to the French president, the position of the IOC “does not cover the period of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games to be held in France”. “It’s in the summer that we will have a review clause and we will assess it depending on the circumstances, and depending on what is being held on the pitch”he added.

Since the reappearance of the debate on the presence or not of the Russians and Belarusians in Paris, the various protagonists return the responsibility for a decision on this subject. The IOC insists that international sports federations remain “the only authorities” governing their competitions at the Olympic Games. Although it traditionally sends its invitations to the national Olympic committees a year before the Games, the body has never announced a decision. “before summer” like the one mentioned by the French authorities.