Olympics

Paris 2024 Olympics : Great Britain, others demands ban on Russian athletes

By Olaleye Oluwadamilola

Posted on February 11, 2023

Paris 2024 Olympics – Great Britain and other major Olympic nations have united to demand that Russian athletes be banned competing.

Thirty-six nations have united to make sure that Russia is excluded from the event with emergency meeting chaired by culture secretary Lucy Frazer.

Ukraine who have threatened to boycott the Paris 2024 Olympics event has been in war with Russia.

As just recently reported, Russian forces struck Ukraine’s south and northeast with dozens of missiles overnight into Friday, in what the Ukrainian prime minister called “one of the largest air attacks” to hit Zaporizhzhia since the war began.

A formal collective statement is set to follow Friday’s meeting, which was opened by Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, whose country have threatened to boycott Paris if Russians participate.

Following the summit, it was claimed that ‘most voices’, including Olympic powerhouses Britain, USA, Canada, Germany and Australia, agreed on a ban of Russian athletes.

Meanwhile, Poland’s sports minister, Kamil Bortniczuk added that hosts France as well as Greece and Japan were the only exception.

Frazer tweeted: ‘It was a very productive meeting between 36 nations, and I made the UK’s position very clear: as long as Putin continues his barbaric war, Russia and Belarus must not be represented at the Olympics.’

Lithuanian sports minister Jurgita Siugzdiniene said: ‘We are going in the direction that we would not need a boycott because all countries are unanimous.’

It is understood a proposal was put forward at the meeting to allow Russian and Belarusian dissidents to be part of a team of refugees.

This was in the wake of the International Olympic Committee opening the door for Russians and Belarusians to compete at next year’s Games as neutrals despite the war of Ukraine.