Britain Urges Sponsors to Pressure IOC on Russia, Belarus Ban

The British authorities has written to Olympic sponsors urging them to strain the International Olympic Committee (IOC) over its proposal to permit Russians and Belarusians to compete at subsequent 12 months’s Paris Games, British media reported on Saturday.

The IOC is dealing with a mounting backlash after setting out a pathway in January for opponents from Russia and its ally Belarus to earn Olympic slots by way of Asian qualifying and to compete as impartial athletes in Paris.

Britain’s Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer addressed the letter to the UK chief executives of 13 of the Olympics’ largest sponsors, together with Coca-Cola, Samsung and Visa, outlining the federal government’s issues.

“We know sport and politics in Russia and Belarus are closely intertwined, and we’re decided that the regimes in Russia and Belarus should not be allowed to use sport for his or her propaganda functions,” Frazer wrote.

“As long as our concerns and the substantial lack of clarity and concrete detail on a workable ‘neutrality’ model are not addressed, we do not agree that Russian and Belarusian athletes should be allowed back into competition.”

Ukraine has threatened to boycott the Paris Games if Russian and Belarusian athletes compete.

The British authorities issued a joint assertion final month with 34 different nations calling on the IOC to ban Russian and Belarusian athletes from its competitions.

The IOC issued sanctions towards Russians and Belarusians after final 12 months’s invasion of Ukraine however is reluctant to exclude their athletes from the Olympics fully for concern of a return to the times of the boycotts of the Cold War period.

Neutral athletes on the Olympics usually are not thought of to be representing their nations and their successes usually are not accompanied by the flying of flags or enjoying of nationwide anthems.

Most worldwide sports activities federations have excluded athletes from the 2 nations because the invasion however some are actually beginning to permit them again into competitors.

“Noting the IOC’s said place that no last selections have been made, now we have strongly urged the IOC to tackle the questions recognized by all nations and rethink its proposal accordingly,” Frazer wrote.

“As an Olympic partner, I would welcome your views on this matter and ask you to join us in pressing the IOC to address the concerns raised in our statement.”

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