Ukraine against Russia’s participation in Olympic Games in France
2023.01.31 14:38
Ukraine against Russia’s participation in Olympic Games in France
By Kristina Sobol
Budrigannews.com – The sports minister said on Tuesday that Ukraine hopes to gain widespread international support for excluding Russian and Belarusian athletes from the Paris Olympics because of Moscow’s invasion.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has granted permission for Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete in qualifiers and is open to including them as neutrals at the 2024 Games.
Vadym Huttsait, the Sports Minister and a former Olympic champion, told Reuters in his office in Kyiv, next to a wall displaying portraits of athletes who had been killed in the war that Moscow started a year ago with help from Belarus, “This is unacceptable for us.”
“It is impossible for us at a time when the full-scale war is going on, when our athletes and soldiers are defending their homes, their parents, and our land,”
The 51-year-old coached Ukraine’s gold medal-winning team at the 2008 Olympic Games and was junior sabre champion in the former Soviet Union four years earlier.
Huttsait stated that the war has resulted in the deaths of at least 220 Ukrainian athletes and coaches, as well as the destruction of over 340 sports facilities.
He went on to say that “Russians competing” would not be permitted because “Ukraine will unite with many countries in Europe and the world” and that 40 nations had provided housing and training assistance to Ukrainian athletes abroad during the war.
However, a total ban on Russians at Paris has received little public support from other nations.
Russia denies any atrocities, asserts that any attempt to exclude it from international sporting events will fail, and asserts that its “special military operation” in Ukraine serves to safeguard its own security.
After the world’s leading sports body looked into options for their return to international events, Moscow said on Tuesday that it would welcome any IOC actions to allow its athletes to compete in the Olympics.
Stanislav Pozdnyakov, the head of Russia’s Olympic Committee, stated:
“Certainly, there is some attempt by the International Olympic Committee to allow our athletes to participate in international competitions.”
He went on to say:
“Maybe in the future Olympic Games as well, of course, we welcome it entirely,” but he also warned against Russian athletes being subjected to “additional conditions.”
Numerous sports federations have implemented the IOC’s previous recommendation to exclude Belarusians and Russians.
However, it supported the Olympic Council of Asia’s proposal last week to allow them to compete in Asia, which could include Olympic qualifying events.
Huttsait stated that in the event that that occurs, the athletes and sporting authorities of Ukraine will be confronted with the “very difficult decision” of whether or not to boycott Paris.
He stated:
“The lives of Ukrainians are more important to us than any medal at international competitions when we lose so many people, so many athletes.”
In recent days, Ukrainian officials have turned against the IOC for encouraging “violence, mass murders, destruction” with the intention of providing Russia with a “platform to promote genocide.”
That was deemed defamatory by the IOC, who stated that such expressions do not foster productive debate.
Wladimir Klitschko, the brother of Kyiv’s mayor and former boxing champion, appealed to IOC head Thomas Bach on Tuesday to prevent Russia from participating in the Olympics and becoming an “accomplice in this abominable war.”
After its teams were forced to compete at the Olympics and major international events without their flag or anthem, Moscow is attempting to put an end to years of doping scandals.
