The International Olympic Committee has condemned Ukraine’s threat to boycott the Paris 2024 Summer Games.
The threat violates the fundamentals of the Olympic Movement and the principles it stands for. “It is extremely unfortunate to escalate this discussion at this early stage with a boycott threat,” the IOC said. The participation of individual neutral athletes with a Russian or Belarusian passport in the Olympic Games in Paris 2024 has not yet been discussed and decided, it said.
“A boycott is a violation of the Olympic Charter, which obliges all NOCs to participate in the Games of the Olympiad by sending athletes,” the statement said. As history has shown, previous boycotts have not achieved their political goals and have only served to punish the athletes of the boycotting National Olympic Committees (NOC).
The IOC around President Thomas Bach had recently triggered a controversy with the announcement that it wanted to open up opportunities for athletes from Russia and Belarus to participate in international competitions despite the war in Ukraine. This could also open the way for these athletes to the games in Paris, albeit only under a neutral flag. Ukraine had sharply criticized the IOC initiative and threatened a boycott.
This Friday, a possible boycott is expected to be discussed at an extraordinary NOK general assembly in Kyiv.
