Three Russian athletes who publicly backed the Kremlin’s war in Ukraine are set to compete in the 2024 Paris Olympics, despite International Olympic Committee (IOC) rules requiring neutrality, Politico reports.
According to the article, tennis players Elena Vesnina and Diana Shnaider and cyclist Alena Ivanchenko have accepted invitations to compete in Paris despite having liked or shared social media content supporting Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
The IOC’s rules allow Russian and Belarusian athletes to participate only if they do not actively support the war or work for their countries’ military or national security agencies. However, an investigation by Global Rights Compliance found that 33 out of 57 Russian and Belarusian athletes declared eligible had supported the war in Ukraine.
Ukraine’s acting minister of youth and sports, Matviy Bidnyi, told Politico, “We sent dozens of joint letters to the IOC and managed to eliminate blatant war propagandists.” Bidnyi added that Ukrainian authorities had identified evidence of more than 800 Russian athletes who had supported the war.
“We have many athletes who are currently on the front lines or in the National Guard. Some have even died,” Vitalii Dubrova, Ukraine’s chief judo coach, said.
The war has taken a significant toll on Ukrainian sports. The Ministry of Youth and Sports reports that at least 487 Ukrainian athletes and coaches have been killed, and more than 500 sports facilities have been destroyed.
Russian authorities have not responded to Politico’s request for comment, and the IOC has not yet commented. The article notes that some eligible Russian athletes have chosen not to participate in the Olympics.
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