The British government has called on sponsors of the Olympic Games to put pressure on the International Olympic Committee to exclude Russian and Belarusian athletes from the next Olympic Games, which will be held in Paris in 2024.
The Guardian newspaper reported that the British government has demanded that Russia and Belarus be denied participation in the next Olympic Games as neutral participants, according to the proposal of the International Olympic Committee, which was put forward in January last year.
The newspaper added, referring to a letter from the British government addressed to the sponsors of the Olympics, that the UK would not agree to allow Russian and Belarusian athletes to participate in the next Olympics until all issues related to their impartial participation were resolved, and all UK concerns about application of the model of neutrality in the field.
The British government said: “Until our concerns and lack of maximum clarity and specific details regarding a working model of neutrality are resolved, we do not agree to allow Russian and Belarusian athletes to participate in the Olympics.”
UK Minister for Culture, Media and Sports Lucy Fraser called on the British heads of the IOC’s international partners, including Coca-Cola, Intel, Samsung and Visa, to put pressure on the IOC to ensure that UK concerns about Russia and Belarusian participation in the Olympics are avoided.
The International Olympic Committee proposed on January 25, 2023 to allow Russian and Belarusian athletes who “do not support the conduct of a special military operation in Ukraine” to participate in the Olympics on neutral territory, subject to a number of conditions.
In early February, the International Olympic Committee indicated that it was considering options that would allow Russian and Belarusian athletes to participate in the Asian Championships and qualify for the Games in Paris, but participation in the Olympics itself is out of the question.
Later, the head of the Russian Olympic Committee, Stanislav Poznyakov, noted that the IOC does not require Russian athletes to condemn a private military operation in Ukraine.
Source: TASS