The news is not exactly surprising. However, taking into account the window of time that is still missing for the next edition of the Olympic Games, it takes on special relevance. The International Olympic Committee (IOC), in the person of one of its oldest members, believes that Russian and Belarusian athletes will hardly be able to attend Paris 2024, in two years.
The idea was brought to The Guardian by Craig Reedie, one of the IOC’s most influential figures of the last 30 years and a former head of the World Anti-Doping Agency. To the English newspaper, Reedie explained that the issue is already being discussed because the qualifying and qualifying competitions for the Olympic Games start this summer — at a time when athletes from Russia and Belarus are completely banned from virtually all sports.
The International Olympic Committee recommends excluding Russian and Belarusian athletes from competitions
“I am afraid that a decision will have to be made in relation to these two countries. And it seems to me that the general feeling is that these athletes should not try to qualify. I think most people struggle to find a way to find some kind of representation. At the moment, there is no clear way to do it. Therefore, we must keep the status quo“, referred. That is, in 2024, Russian athletes should not be present at the Olympics at all, not even under a neutral flag and anthem, as happened in Tokyo, after the punishment after the doping scandal.
In February, shortly after the Russian invasion of Ukraine began, the IOC recommended withdrawing Russian and Belarusian athletes from international events to “protect the integrity of world sporting competitions and for the safety of all participants.” ”. Five months later, Craig Reedie recalls that virtually every sport rose to the challenge: with the exception of cycling, judo and tennis (apart from Wimbledon), which have allowed Russian athletes to participate neutrally.
“I chose a simpler solution, which is to ban everyone based on their citizenship”: Russian Olympic champion writes open letter to IOC leader
“However, the problem we have now is that, about two years before the Games, the qualifying period will start. And this is a real problem for the federations, which have a clear instruction that they have agreed that they must not invite Russians and Belarusians to any events. So looking at all of this, it’s unlikely that anyone would participate in these qualifications, with the exception of these three modalities that do things differently. And can they even qualify in these three modalities? I’m not sure”, he added, also rejecting the idea that Russians and Belarusians could enter the tabulation halfway through, in a scenario of an end to the armed conflict in the short term.
Source: Observadora
