More than 40 retired Olympians from the nation have demanded Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) reverse its place and withdraw assist of Russian and Belarusian athletes taking part on the 2024 Olympic Games.
The International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) Executive Board in January has paved the best way for Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete on the 2024 Olympic Games, citing that “No athlete needs to be prevented from competing simply due to their passport.”
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The COC has shown its apparent support for the IOC’s decision of allowing Russians and Belarusians to compete at the Paris Summer Games as “neutrals.”
Dozens of athletes have signed an open letter to the COC, condemning its obvious assist of probably permitting the participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes within the Paris Games, CBC News reported.
“We condemn latest public statements issued by the COC supporting the ‘exploration of a pathway’ for Russians and Belarusians to compete as ‘neutrals’ within the 2024 Paris Olympics,” the Canadians wrote in a press release launched Wednesday.
“Opening the door to neutral Russian and Belarusian participation… sends a message that the COC is no longer concerned with Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine.
“No pathway should be considered for Russian or Belarusian athletes to compete in the Olympic Games until Russia fully withdraws from Ukraine.”
“Refusing their participation in worldwide sport is just not merely a matter of denying athletes a alternative to compete due to their passport, it’s a rejection of an illegal and inhumane battle and a recognition of the function worldwide sports activities performs in geopolitics,” they wrote in a letter.
Canada was among a group of 35 countries that released a statement last month saying that, without clarity on a workable neutrality model, “we do not agree that Russian and Belarusian athletes should be allowed back into competition.
In response to the letter, the COC said its position hasn’t changed – athletes from both countries should be banned while leaving room for a “workable neutrality model.”
“We worth the opinions and issues raised by the athletes in at present’s letter and supplied to communicate with a number of of the signatories quite a few occasions over the previous month to focus on their views and make clear our place, together with at a particular assembly of the COC Board of Directors convened for that function,” the committee said in an email to CBC News.
“Our position, consistent over the past year, is that we support the exclusion of Russian and Belarusian athletes from the international sport while the invasion is ongoing. This is aligned with the recent statement, signed by Canada and more than 30 other Nations, that call for the continuation of the ban in the absence of clarity and concrete details on a workable neutrality model,” it added.
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(This story has not been edited by News18 employees and is revealed from a syndicated information company feed)
