The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has not yet made a decision on the participation of Russia and Belarus in the Paris Olympics, but believes that the Olympic athletes should be able to allow Russians and Belarusians to compete again internationally, under a neutral flag and if they did not speak out for the war in Ukraine.
“Take responsibility”
Pace’s sports affairs group decided during a meeting in Strasbourg on Tuesday to urge the IOC not to allow Russia and Belarus into the Olympic heats.
— A forced war must have clear consequences. Sports must also take responsibility, says Dane Mogens Jensen in Pace.
— The only clear message is to exclude athletes.
In his opening remarks, Pace chairman Tiny Kox, of the Netherlands, said that for many, Russian participation in the Paris Olympics was “totally unthinkable” and could “serve the attacker’s propaganda purposes”.
Sent statement
The IOC was invited to the meeting, but did not send a representative. Instead, they sent a statement from some athletes and leaders from the Summer Olympic athletes’ organization Asoif, in which they wrote, among other things, that sports competitions cannot be held only with participants whose countries agree and that the Ukraine war is only one of 70 conflicts and crises in the world.
— But we are here to defend democracy. I think the appeal for the athletes was quite sick, says Briton George Foulkes who also represents Pace.
Pace, which is made up of politically appointed representatives from the member states’ national parliaments, monitors, among other things, human rights and democratic development in the member states.