The three Baltic presidents said on Monday they expect the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) decision to allow Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete as neutrals at the 2024 Olympic Games to be reversed.
“It’s a very disappointing decision, and I still hope that it could be revised, it could be corrected,” Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda told reporters in Tallinn on Monday.
“We already see reactions from various federations, and I think that Olympic principles have nothing to do with terror, murder, or destruction. So, it’s highly discouraging to see such decisions right now, in the critical stage of the war in Ukraine,” he added.
The IOC on Friday gave the green light to the participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes under a neutral flag in the Paris Olympics next year, except in team events, if they do not actively support the war in Ukraine.
According to the committee, only eight athletes from Russia and three athletes from Belarus currently qualify as neutral athletes.
In comparison, more than 60 Ukrainian athletes have qualified for next year’s Paris Olympics.
Estonian President Alar Karis also said he found the IOC’s decision unacceptable, both “as a citizen and a person who likes sports”.
Latvian President Edgars Rinkēvičs said that the decision undermines “some of the key principles of the Olympic movement”.
“To my mind, if nothing changes, it would be very difficult to see Ukrainian or Latvian athletes competing there. But this is, of course, a decision that needs to be taken by the governments and sports communities in every country and, of course, it has to be well coordinated and well thought through with like-minded nations, including Ukraine, the Baltic nations, and other European nations that are not happy with these decisions,” he said.
The IOC’s executive board has decided that “Individual Neutral Athletes (AINs) who have qualified through the existing qualification systems of the International Federations (IFs) on the field of play will be declared eligible to compete at the Olympic Games Paris 2024”.
However, they will have to meet “strict eligibility conditions”. Among other things, teams of athletes with a Russian or Belarusian passport will not be allowed to participate.
“Athletes who actively support the war” and those “who are contracted to the Russian or Belarusian military or national security agencies” will also be excluded.
Additionally, “no flag, anthem, colours, or any other identifications whatsoever of Russia or Belarus will be displayed at the Olympic Games Paris 2024 in any official venue or any official function”.
Newsletter
Every Friday morning.
