Ukrainian athletes to suffer from government ban: IOC
-
Loading... - Carla Colombo
- 11 Apr 2023
- 73 Views
- 0 Like
- 0 Comment
Ukraine says its athletes will not participate in qualifying events at the 2024 Paris Olympics if they have to compete against Russians.
The International Olympic Committee has criticised Ukraine’s decision not to allow Ukrainian athletes to take part in qualifying events for the 2024 Paris Olympics if they have to compete against Russians, saying this will hurt only Ukrainian sport and its athletes.
Ukrainian government minister Oleh Nemchinov announced the policy on Friday after the IOC issued recommendations on Tuesday for the gradual return to international competition for Russian and Belarusian athletes as neutrals.
Athletes from the two countries have been banned from most elite international sporting competitions since March 2022 following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine the previous month.
“If implemented, such a decision would only hurt the Ukrainian athlete community, and in no way impact the war that the world wants to stop, and that the IOC has so vehemently condemned,” the Olympic body said in a statement on Saturday.
“The IOC has always maintained that it is not up to governments to decide which athletes can participate in which international competitions.”
Nemchinov, secretary of Ukraine’s cabinet ministers, said the government’s decision was adopted following a proposal by Sports Minister Vadym Huttsait and national federations ignoring the ruling could be sanctioned. Huttsait is also president of Ukraine’s Olympic committee. Read More…
