United States Among 35 Nations Pressing For Ban Of Russian Athletes From 2024 Paris Olympics
Pressure is ratcheting up on the International Olympic Committee to ban athletes from Russia and Belarus from the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. According to Reuters, the United States, Germany and Australia are part of a 35-country block that is pushing the IOC to ban Russian and Belarusian athletes from the Paris Games due to Russia’s invasion of the Ukraine.
The IOC has wavered on the topic in recent months, as the organizing body does not want to see the next Olympiad caught up in controversy. In a recent online meeting, 35 national sports ministers took part in a discussion that focused on pushing the IOC to ban Russian and Belarusian athletes. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy was part of the meeting.
According to the Reuters report, Zelenskiy said: “If there’s an Olympics sport with killings and missile strikes, you know which national team would take the first place. Terror and Olympism are two opposites, they cannot be combined.”
The United States was represented in the meeting by Lee Satterfield, the Assistant Secretary of State. After the meeting, a spokesperson for the United States Department of State released a statement. It read: “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.
“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.”