The International Olympic Committee would like Russian and Belarussian athletes to compete.
While the United States House of Representatives is preoccupied with twitter censorship and a laptop, the rest of the world is wrestling with the notion of a 2024 Paris Olympics boycott should the International Olympic Committee decide that Russia and Belarus can compete in the event. That does not seem to be a popular idea. Usually there is some American politician pushing for an Olympic boycott over things like human rights abuses. But all is quiet on the American political front. The problem is the Russian invasion of another country, Ukraine. An invasion that took place during the February 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics which was a violation of some IOC rule that you can’t start a war during an Olympics. Ukraine and Latvia are thinking about a boycott if Russian and Belarusian athletes are allowed to compete in Paris. Poland, Estonia, Lithuania, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Iceland are allied with Ukraine. Canada wants to see Russian and Belarusian athletes banned from the 2024 Games. Officially France, Germany, Canada and the United States are at the moment committed to sending teams to Paris.
The mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo does not want Russian athletes, coaches and other officials in her city. Hidalgo told France Info, “as long as Russia continues to wage war on Ukraine, I don’t want there to be a Russian delegation at the Paris 2024 Games. I would find that indecent. It is not possible to parade as if nothing had happened, to have a delegation come to Paris, while the bombs continue to rain down on Ukraine.” The IOC claimed a boycott will violate the Olympic Charter and that its inclusion of Russia and Belarus is based on a UN resolution against discrimination within the Olympic movement. The IOC again is on the wrong side of history.
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