> VILNIUS, Feb 10 (Reuters) – A group of 35 countries, including the United States, Germany and Australia, will demand that Russian and Belarusian athletes are banned from the 2024 Olympics, the Lithuanian sports minister said on Friday, deepening the uncertainty over the Paris Games.
>
> …
>
> “We are going in the direction that we would not need a boycott because all countries are unanimous,” Jurgita Siugzdiniene said.
>
> Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy took part in the online meeting attended by 35 ministers to discuss the call for the ban, pointing out 228 Ukrainian athletes and coaches died as a result of the Russian aggression.
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> “If there’s an Olympics sport with killings and missile strikes, you know which national team would take the first place,” he told the ministers.
> …
>
> British sports minister Lucy Frazer said on Twitter that the meeting was very productive.
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> “I made the UK’s position very clear: As long as Putin continues his barbaric war, Russia and Belarus must not be represented at the Olympics,” she wrote.
>
> Lee Satterfield, Assistant Secretary of State who leads the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, also participated in the meeting.
>
> “The Assistant Secretary outlined that the United States will continue to join a vast community of nations in our unwavering support for the people of Ukraine and hold the Russian Federation accountable for its brutal and barbaric war against Ukraine, as well as the complicit Lukashenka regime in Belarus,” a U.S. Department of State spokesperson said.
>
> “We will continue to consult with our independent National Olympic Committee – the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee – on next steps, and look forward to greater clarity by the IOC on their proposed policy toward Russia and Belarus.”
>
> With war raging in Ukraine, the Baltic States, Nordic countries and Poland had called on international sports bodies to ban Russian and Belarusian athletes from competing in the Olympics.
>
> …
>
> “We know that 70% of Russian athletes are soldiers. I consider it unacceptable that such people participate in the Olympic Games in the current situation, when fair play obviously means nothing to them,” Czech foreign minister Jan Lipavsky said after meeting the heads of the Czech IOC and the national sports agency.
>
> Ukraine has threatened to boycott the games if Russian and Belarusian athletes compete and Ukrainian boxer Oleksandr Usyk has said Russians will win “medals of blood, deaths and tears” if allowed to take part.
>
> …
>
> Anette Trettebergstuen, Norway’s Minister of Culture and Equality, also said it was “far too early” to think about a boycott but added that it was “strange and provocative” for the IOC to consider allowing Russian athletes to compete.
>
> “In a Russian context, there is no difference between sport and politics, and any sports performance is pure propaganda,” Trettebergstuen told Norwegian newspaper VG.
>
> “Saying the athletes should be able to compete as neutrals… Neutrality is not possible. It’s a dead end.”
>
> …
>
> While Anne Hidalgo, the mayor of host city Paris, said Russian athletes should not take part, Paris 2024 organisers, who last week said they would abide by the IOC’s decision on who would take part in the Games, declined to comment.
>
Of course we’re not one of the 35…anti-Westernism and Russophilia (or a moronic “equal distances” narative) is still strongly present in Greek institutions…
If this goes ahead with Russia and Belarus, it will go down in history alongside the Nazi Olympics as one of the biggest stains in the events history.
If the athletes from Russia and Belarus want to participate then they should come without any propaganda symbols, behaviour or speeches, that way they could be let in.
But if I remember correctly, the last time a Russian gymnast showed at an Olympics competition, he came up with the Z symbol on his shirt and without regrets about the war Russia waged against Ukraine.
So either they agree to terms and conditions or they are out of the game for good.
IF and it’s a very big IF they were allowed to compete, many countries and athletes would simply refuse to compete. It would almost certainly be the end of the IOC and the Olympia’s.
Not only would the IOC be bankrupt Paris and France would also be bankrupt. Not to mention the “on the ground delivery” of the Olympics relies solely on volunteers from around the world. Many of which would also refuse to attend. The IOC need to take a firm and decisive stance on this.
Their status as “country non grata” gets stronger and “more stable”……
If the IOC is anything like fifa……. 🤦🏻♂️
Why Belarus?
While Russians are invading and killing Ukraine’s defenders, I personally demand the exclusion of the Russians and Belarusians’ sportives from all international events! The sportives are representing RU and their war criminal Putin’s regime. Who is joining me?
10 comments
> VILNIUS, Feb 10 (Reuters) – A group of 35 countries, including the United States, Germany and Australia, will demand that Russian and Belarusian athletes are banned from the 2024 Olympics, the Lithuanian sports minister said on Friday, deepening the uncertainty over the Paris Games.
>
> …
>
> “We are going in the direction that we would not need a boycott because all countries are unanimous,” Jurgita Siugzdiniene said.
>
> Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy took part in the online meeting attended by 35 ministers to discuss the call for the ban, pointing out 228 Ukrainian athletes and coaches died as a result of the Russian aggression.
>
> “If there’s an Olympics sport with killings and missile strikes, you know which national team would take the first place,” he told the ministers.
> …
>
> British sports minister Lucy Frazer said on Twitter that the meeting was very productive.
>
> “I made the UK’s position very clear: As long as Putin continues his barbaric war, Russia and Belarus must not be represented at the Olympics,” she wrote.
>
> Lee Satterfield, Assistant Secretary of State who leads the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, also participated in the meeting.
>
> “The Assistant Secretary outlined that the United States will continue to join a vast community of nations in our unwavering support for the people of Ukraine and hold the Russian Federation accountable for its brutal and barbaric war against Ukraine, as well as the complicit Lukashenka regime in Belarus,” a U.S. Department of State spokesperson said.
>
> “We will continue to consult with our independent National Olympic Committee – the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee – on next steps, and look forward to greater clarity by the IOC on their proposed policy toward Russia and Belarus.”
>
> With war raging in Ukraine, the Baltic States, Nordic countries and Poland had called on international sports bodies to ban Russian and Belarusian athletes from competing in the Olympics.
>
> …
>
> “We know that 70% of Russian athletes are soldiers. I consider it unacceptable that such people participate in the Olympic Games in the current situation, when fair play obviously means nothing to them,” Czech foreign minister Jan Lipavsky said after meeting the heads of the Czech IOC and the national sports agency.
>
> Ukraine has threatened to boycott the games if Russian and Belarusian athletes compete and Ukrainian boxer Oleksandr Usyk has said Russians will win “medals of blood, deaths and tears” if allowed to take part.
>
> …
>
> Anette Trettebergstuen, Norway’s Minister of Culture and Equality, also said it was “far too early” to think about a boycott but added that it was “strange and provocative” for the IOC to consider allowing Russian athletes to compete.
>
> “In a Russian context, there is no difference between sport and politics, and any sports performance is pure propaganda,” Trettebergstuen told Norwegian newspaper VG.
>
> “Saying the athletes should be able to compete as neutrals… Neutrality is not possible. It’s a dead end.”
>
> …
>
> While Anne Hidalgo, the mayor of host city Paris, said Russian athletes should not take part, Paris 2024 organisers, who last week said they would abide by the IOC’s decision on who would take part in the Games, declined to comment.
>
Of course we’re not one of the 35…anti-Westernism and Russophilia (or a moronic “equal distances” narative) is still strongly present in Greek institutions…
If this goes ahead with Russia and Belarus, it will go down in history alongside the Nazi Olympics as one of the biggest stains in the events history.
If the athletes from Russia and Belarus want to participate then they should come without any propaganda symbols, behaviour or speeches, that way they could be let in.
But if I remember correctly, the last time a Russian gymnast showed at an Olympics competition, he came up with the Z symbol on his shirt and without regrets about the war Russia waged against Ukraine.
So either they agree to terms and conditions or they are out of the game for good.
IF and it’s a very big IF they were allowed to compete, many countries and athletes would simply refuse to compete. It would almost certainly be the end of the IOC and the Olympia’s.
Not only would the IOC be bankrupt Paris and France would also be bankrupt. Not to mention the “on the ground delivery” of the Olympics relies solely on volunteers from around the world. Many of which would also refuse to attend. The IOC need to take a firm and decisive stance on this.
Their status as “country non grata” gets stronger and “more stable”……
If the IOC is anything like fifa……. 🤦🏻♂️
Why Belarus?
While Russians are invading and killing Ukraine’s defenders, I personally demand the exclusion of the Russians and Belarusians’ sportives from all international events! The sportives are representing RU and their war criminal Putin’s regime. Who is joining me?
Olympics are not for the killers.