Partnership of 30 countries to exclude Russia and Belarus from the Olympic Games

The news broke like a “bomb”. CNN that Russia and Belarus are in danger of being excluded from them Olympic Gamesbecause of the war raging in Ukraine!

Specifically, the USA but also 30 more countries cooperate in this campaign as they consider that the exclusion of the two federations is a one-way street, while England and Canada suggest the presence of Russian and Belarusian athletes with neutral participation, something that ultimately does not seem to be able to materialize.

In fact, the countries that made the proposal for the exclusion issued a statement in which they speak of equation of sports and politics in both countries:

“In Russia and Belarus, sport and politics are closely intertwined,” the joint statement stressed. “We have strong concerns about how feasible it is for Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete as ‘neutrals’ – under IOC conditions without identification with their country – when they are directly funded and supported by their states.

“The strong ties and relationships between Russian athletes and the Russian military are also of clear concern. Therefore, our collective approach throughout has never been one of discriminating simply on the basis of nationality, but these strong concerns must be addressed by the IOC.”.

Edited by: Vasilis Macheiras