The Ukrainian Olympic Committee (UOC) sent a letter to International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach requesting he investigate 19 Russian and Belarusian. The UOC claimed that the athletes failed to meet conditions for inclusion in the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. The organization alleges that they were supporting aggression against Ukraine.
The organization said that Russian and Belarusian athletes planning to compete under a neutral flag did not meet the conditions imposed by the IOC, according to the UOC, to not show support for the Russian attack on Ukraine.
The Ukraine Olympic Committee claims some athletes should not be allowed to compete at the Paris Games because of their support for "Russian aggression" and asks IOC to investigate those "neutral" athletes > https://t.co/xmJ8pqHb2m pic.twitter.com/FKMxrjCVnM
— Sport Resolutions (@Sport_Res) February 13, 2024
The UOC asked for the situation to be investigated.
In December, the IOC lifted the ban on Russian and Belarusian athletes enabling them to compete in the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.
They had to meet several conditions. One of them was to not show support for aggression against Ukraine.
The letter reads, “Dear Mr President. On behalf of the NOC of Ukraine and the Ukrainian sports community, I would like to reiterate our high appreciation and sincere gratitude to the International Olympic Committee and the International Olympic Movement for their continued support of Ukrainian athletes and Ukrainian sport in general.
I would like to address you once again on the issue of the potential participation of individual neutral athletes with Russian and Belarusian passports, in particular those competing in wrestling, potential participation in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games and their compliance with the IOC’s recommended conditions for participation.
The first qualifying event was the 2023 World Wrestling Championships. Here, more attention was paid to potential members of the ANI team. Although some pre-registered athletes were not allowed to compete at the World Championships, most of the athletes who we felt did not meet the IOC requirements were allowed to compete.”
“As we reported in our last letter, some of you have already qualified for the Olympic Games. We are now approaching the start of the second round of Olympic qualifying. The number of ANI athletes for whom we have concerns regarding their compliance with IOC requirements has increased significantly.”
“In light of the above, we would like to appeal to the IOC to pay special attention to these issues and to consider the evidence and facts presented by us when making the final decision on the participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games as ANI.”
