Anne Hidalgo remains consistent in allowing representatives of the aggressor country into her country
Mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo once again spoke out against the participation of athletes from Russia in Olympic Games 2024.
“I prefer they not be here. We cannot act as if the Russian invasion of Ukraine did not exist. We cannot act as if Putin is not a dictator who today threatens all of Europe.”
“There can be no question of sanctions against Israel in relation to the Olympic and Paralympic Games, because Israel is a democracy,” Hidalgo emphasized.
Previously, the mayor of the French capital has repeatedly spoken out against the participation of Russian athletes at the 2024 Olympic Games, including in a neutral status, while the Russian Federation continues its war against Ukraine.
At the beginning of 2024, Ukrainian athletes turned to Anne Hidalgo, as well as French President Emmanuel Macron, Sports Minister Amelie Oudea-Castery and Chairman of the 2024 Olympics Organizing Committee Tony Estangue with letter of appeal. In it, the most famous representatives of Ukrainian sports drew the attention of politicians and functionaries to the fact that none of the Russian athletes openly condemned the war, and also provided evidence of support for aggression against Ukraine by “neutral” Russians admitted to the 2024 Olympic Games (for example, Olympic champions Vladislav Larin, Zaurbek Sidakov and Zaur Uguev).
Last December, the Executive Committee of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) decided to admit participants from Russia and Belarus as “individual neutral athletes” to the 2024 Olympic Games.
Acting Minister of Youth and Sports of Ukraine Matvey Bedny called the above-mentioned IOC decision “irresponsible.” This position was also criticized by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Sergei Kuleba. Later, the head of the National Olympic Committee (NOC) of Ukraine, Vadim Gutzeit, spoke about plans to assemble his own admission database regarding “neutral” athletes admitted to the 2024 Olympic Games.
The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) recently published regulations for neutral Paralympic athletes at the Paris Paralympics, specifically banning them from participating in the opening and closing ceremonies. At the next IOC meeting, a similar question will be raised regarding the opening ceremony of Olympic Games-24.
Early in the morning of February 24, 2022, Russia fired rockets and aerial bombardment of most Ukrainian cities, and then launched a full-scale military invasion. The war against Russia has continued for the 749th day.
Source: Sportarena
I’m Todderic Kirkman, a journalist and author for athletistic. I specialize in covering all news related to sports, ranging from basketball to football and everything in between. With over 10 years of experience in the industry, I have become an invaluable asset to my team. My ambition is to bring the most up-to-date information on sports topics around the world.
