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A European Union (EU) resolution ripped into the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as the group spoke with their votes. They went 444 votes in favour, 26 against and 37 abstentions.
The publication Inside the Games wrote: the resolution stated that allowing Russia and Belarus to participate in Paris, “runs counter to those countries multifaceted isolation and will be used by both regimes for propaganda purposes.”
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has launched renewed criticism at the IOC and its President Thomas Bach for its change of stance.
“The hypocrisy of the IOC President and the Committee is simply pathetic,” Kuleba said.
The IOC has argued that it would be discriminatory to exclude Russia and ally Belarus from sports ahead of the Paris Olympics. With qualifying in many sports already underway, the IOC wants athletes from those countries to compete in a neutral capacity without national symbols.
It is unlikely that the IOC feel that it would be discriminatory, it is likely that Thomas Back and the rest of the IOC are afraid of retribution from Russia. No, level-headed thinking person would consider it discriminatory to exclude a country that wages illegal war, and has a culture of systematic doping.
Never before such a political heavyweight has distanced itself in such strong terms from the IOC: European Union condemns IOC for attempts to include Russia and Belarus at Paris 2024. EU vs. Bach – that is the clear and unambiguous message. https://t.co/UU7i5zKlO4
— Hajo Seppelt (@hajoseppelt) February 19, 2023
Currently, the backlash toward Bach and the IOC is enourmous. The IOC should swallow its pride and ban Russia and Belarus.
The resolution took place on the one year anniversary of the war. The EU Parliament urged the 27 EU countries and the international community to pressure the IOC to reverse its decision, “which is an embarrassment to the international world of sport.”
Lawmakers also asked member states to seriously consider sending fighter jets to Ukraine and said Russian assets frozen by the EU should be used to rebuild Ukraine. They have also asked for broaden sanctions against Russia and demand that Russia be removed from the EU.
