June 22, (THEWILL) – The International Olympic Committee has urged Ukraine to allow its athletes to participate in the qualifying events for the Paris 2024 Olympics.
This comes after Ukraine imposed a partial ban on its athletes competing against Russian and Belarusian athletes. Thomas Bach, the IOC President, stated that the Olympic body would support “every Ukrainian athlete,” who wished to participate in Olympic qualifying events.
THEWILL recalls that Ukraine had banned its national sports teams from competing in events that included competitors from Russia and Belarus in March. This decision was made after the IOC allowed Russian and Belarusian athletes to return to competitions as neutrals. Bach stated that it was difficult to understand why the Ukrainian Government was preventing its own athletes from qualifying for the Paris 2024 Olympics.
Bach further stated that the IOC would support every Ukrainian athlete through their respective International Federation in their preparation and participation in any competition. He added that the entire Olympic community wanted Ukrainian athletes to have the opportunity to qualify for Paris 2024. “We want them to have the opportunity to qualify for Paris 2024. This means participating now,” Bach noted emphatically.
Although Russian and Belarusian athletes have returned to competitive sports as neutrals, no decision has been made yet on their participation at the Paris Olympics in 2024.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
