On Friday, December 8, 2023, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced that it would accept the presence of Russian and Belarusian athletes at the 2024 Olympic Games. It claims to defend the universalism of Olympic values, while admitting that these athletes are apart. To reconcile the irreconcilable, it wants to transform some of them into "neutral individual athletes" without nationality, anthem or flag, provided that they have no connection with the war in Ukraine.

Everything shows that this is a sleight of hand, because sport is inseparable from Putin's warmongering system. The exceptional collusion in Russia between sport and political and economic powers ( sportokratura ) has been undermining Olympic values for over 20 years. The International Judo Federation, under strong Russian influence, gave another fine example of this last May. It had admitted to its World Championships in Doha a delegation of "neutral individual athletes" composed of half military personnel - including Warrant Officer Inal Tasoev who nearly deprived Teddy Riner of his world title! The same Warrant Officer Tasoev and his brothers in arms recently repeated the feat in France itself, during the Euro Judo Championships in Montpellier, from November 3 to 5 , without anyone being offended. We also remember the incident deliberately triggered against the Ukrainian sabre fencer Olga Kharlan by her "neutral individual" opponent at the World Fencing Championships in Milan at the end of July.

Since the IOC recommended their return to international competitions under the guise of neutrality in March 2023, we have seen, in addition to the judokas mentioned above, many “neutral individual athletes” competing who have teamed up with Russian military personnel, train in Russian army or police clubs, or support the Russian army on social media. Much of this information has been conveniently deleted, to cover their tracks. This is what the IOC’s sleight of hand is really based on!

Let's not let Putin sully the Games and our capital

After the Russian invasion of 24 February 2022, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) had adopted an even tougher position than the IOC. At the end of September, the vote to reinstate the Russian Paralympic Committee, against the advice of the IPC Athletes' Commission, was close. According to several officials, including Marie-Amélie Le Fur, President of the French Paralympic and Sports Committee, this vote was subject to pressure on certain national committees. They demonstrate how important the Paris Games are to Putin. Even more scandalous, Russia is reportedly considering sending soldiers wounded in Ukraine to the Paralympic Games !

Putin's army of athletes and his Belarusian accomplices must not be allowed to win Olympic and Paralympic victories, which would provide a golden springboard for his regime and that of Lukashenko. We therefore call on the IOC and the IPC to reverse their decisions, and to refuse to allow Russian and Belarusian athletes to attend the Paris Games, even under neutral flags, with the exception of those who have expressed their opposition to the war in Ukraine.

We also call on the Mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, to reiterate her statements of February 7, 2023 : " it is not possible to march as if nothing had happened, to have a [Russian] delegation come to Paris, while the bombs continue to rain down on Ukraine ."

We of course fully support World Athletics, the International Athletics Federation , which continues to exclude Russians and Belarusians from the competitions it organises, and we call on the French sports federations to support it.

To read our full argument:

https://www.pourlukraine.com/non-a-armee-des-athletes-de-poutine-jo-paris#argumentaire-JO