(Kyiv) Ukraine stepped up efforts on Friday to pressure international sports leaders to oppose Russia’s participation in next year’s Paris Summer Olympics, amid signs increasingly suggest that these Games could be the subject of the biggest boycott since the Cold War.
A meeting of the Ukrainian Olympic Committee did not commit to a boycott, but endorsed plans to consult and persuade sports officials around the world over the next two months.
Members of the committee voted in favor of “consultations aimed at preventing the participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes in all international competitions, and a possible boycott”.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) is pushing for athletes from Russia and Belarus to be able to take part in the Paris Games in 2024. They would participate without their national flags or anthems as “neutral athletes”.
The IOC, which previously recommended excluding Russians and Belarusians from world sport for security reasons, says it cannot discriminate against them on the basis of citizenship alone, citing comments from United Nations officials.
Ukraine wants Russia and Belarus to be totally excluded from the Olympics. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said any neutral flag would be “stained with blood”.
Ukraine boycotted some sporting events last year rather than go up against the Russians.
At Friday’s meeting of the Ukrainian Olympic Committee assembly, speakers expressed concern over Russia’s use of the Paris event for propaganda purposes and noted the close ties between some competitors and the country’s army.
The last time multiple countries boycotted an Olympics was in 1988, when North Korea and other countries refused to attend the Summer Games in South Korea.
The North Korean team did not show up for the Tokyo Games in 2021, citing concerns over the coronavirus pandemic. As a result, the IOC barred it from the following Winter Games in Beijing, saying teams had a duty to attend all Olympics.