By Karolos Grohmann
DOHA (Reuters) – The International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach said the Games have a unifying mission when he spoke to Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who called for a ban on Russian and Belarusian athletes, the IOC said on Thursday.
Zelenskiy had said on Wednesday after the call with Bach that he had opposed the idea of Russian athletes taking part under any kind of neutral banner at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, as “all their flags are stained in blood.”
With the IOC edging towards including Russian and Belarus athletes at the 2024 Games as neutrals, Bach told Zelenskiy that the Olympics were not about exclusion.
“In the call, the Ukrainian President requested the full isolation of Russia and Russians from the world community,” the IOC said in a statement released on Thursday. “From his point of view, this must also apply to athletes.”
“In this context, the IOC President explained the unifying mission of the IOC and the Olympic Games enshrined in the Olympic Charter.”
“At the end of this open and constructive discussion, both presidents agreed to stay in contact.”
The United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee on Monday endorsed exploring the possibility of Russian and Belarusian athletes featuring in the Games, but said they must do so strictly as neutral competitors.
Bach had said last week that while IOC sanctions against Russia and Belarus remain in place, the “protective measures” of not letting their athletes compete in international competitions to protect the events’ integrity were another matter.
Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February, many sports bodies have moved events and suspended Russian teams or athletes while sponsors ended contracts in protest against the war.
The IOC had also recommended that events in Russia be cancelled or relocated and that Russian and Belarusian athletes not take part or compete under a neutral flag.
While events that count towards qualification in some sports for the Paris Olympics have already been held, most sports will stage their continental or global qualification events in the coming 18 months.
Russian and Belarusian participation in those events is still unclear.
(Reporting by Karolos Grohmann; Editing by Toby Davis)
