Gutzeit: Russian athletes must be suspended from all international competitions, including the Olympic Games in Paris

Chapter NOC of Ukraine Vadim Gutzeit stated that Russian athletes should not take part in the upcoming 2024 Olympics, even under a neutral flag.

“Russia continues its aggressive war against Ukraine, destroying cities, villages and civilians. The war caused enormous damage to Ukrainian sports. Since the beginning of the full-scale war, about 400 athletes and coaches have been killed, 352 sports infrastructure facilities have been damaged or completely destroyed.”

“About 40 thousand athletes were forced to change their place of residence. About 140 thousand young athletes were deprived of the opportunity to train. The damage amounted to more than $250 million.”

“Therefore, the position of the Ukrainian sports community has remained unchanged: Russian athletes must be suspended from all international competitions, including the Olympic Games in Paris, until Russian troops are withdrawn from Ukraine and until the integrity of Ukrainian territory is restored within internationally recognized borders.”

Let us recall that in October the IOC officially suspended the activities of the Olympic Committee for violating the Olympic Charter. The reason was the inclusion of “Olympic councils” from the occupied territories of Ukraine into the latter.

In November, the IOC called for the abandonment of the World Friendship Games, which Russia had planned for September 2024. Additionally, the IOC has not changed its guidelines regarding the participation of “individual neutral athletes” in competitions subject to “strict conditions.”

At the same time, earlier the President of the International Olympic Committee, Thomas Bach, spoke about the IOC’s desire to return athletes from Russia and Belarus to international competitions “for the sake of uniting the whole world at the Olympic Games.” The German called the position of Ukraine, which opposed the admission of all athletes from aggressor countries, “unconstructive.”

Back in March, the IOC Executive Committee recommended the return of Russian and Belarusian athletes to international competitions in a neutral status.

In the early hours of February 24, Russia launched rocket and air strikes on most Ukrainian cities and then launched a full-scale military invasion. The Russian war against Ukraine has continued for the 653rd day.