the Council of Europe in favor of the exclusion of Russian and Belarusian athletes

The Russian case at the Olympics is far from closed. The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe voted on Thursday 22 June for the total exclusion of Russian and Belarusian athletes from the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Paris “as long as Russia’s war of aggression (on Ukraine) continues”.

In a resolution adopted at its summer plenary session, taking place this week in Strasbourg, the assembly urged “the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and its constituent sports bodies to maintain the position expressed in 2022 and ban participation” of these athletes at the next Olympic Games and “all other major sporting events”she said in a statement.

This resolution comes as the IOC “is currently considering the possibility of allowing athletes” with a Russian or Belarusian passport “to compete in Paris as ‘neutral athletes'”, continues the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE).

“propaganda tool”

The IOC recommended last March the reinstatement of Russian and Belarusian athletes in international competitions, under a neutral banner and “individually”, if they did not actively support the war in Ukraine. But the PACE considers in its resolution that any participation of these athletes is “unthinkable” And “would certainly be used as a propaganda tool and would de facto prevent other athletes – especially Ukrainians – from participating”.

According to the PACE, the arguments in favor of their participation “do not carry sufficient weight in the face of the imperative to condemn and repudiate the atrocities committed and to demonstrate the international community’s full and unwavering support for Ukraine as the onslaught continues.”