Latvia says it will not participate in the 2024 Olympics with Russia and Belarus

Delfi reports this with reference to a statement by the President of the Latvian Olympic Committee, Georges Tikmer.

"Latvia's position is that if the Olympic Games were held now and athletes from Russia and Belarus were to participate, I think the Latvian national team would not go to the Olympiad. We hope that the war will end and Ukraine will win. It will be a completely new situation and new rules of the game. Of course, in this case, Latvian athletes will also be able to participate in such Olympic Games," Tikmer said.

It is reported that Latvia will encourage its sports federations to appeal to international colleagues with a request not to allow representatives of the Russian Federation and Belarus to participate in the competition.

At the same time, the Olympic Council of Asia stated that athletes from the aggressor countries would still be allowed to participate in the 2023 Asian Games, but it is not known whether they will be able to meet the qualification criteria.

• As a reminder, on January 27, IOC chief Thomas Bach said that he favoured the participation of Russians and Belarusians in the 2024 Olympics, despite Ukraine's threats to boycott the Games.

• On January 29, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that he had written a letter to French President Emmanuel Macron over the possible admission of Russians to the 2024 Olympics in Paris.

• On January 30, Advisor to the Head of the President's Office Mykhailo Podolyak called the IOC, which supports the participation of Russians and Belarusians in the 2024 Olympics, a promoter of Russia's war against Ukraine.

• Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said that if Russians are allowed to participate in the 2024 Olympics, representatives of the Russian army will be able to compete at the Games in Paris.

• Volodymyr Klitschko said that the reinstatement of Russian and Belarusian athletes at the Olympic Games is a "betrayal of the Olympic spirit" and a "monumental mistake." He emphasized that today the Russian occupiers are "Olympic champions" in crimes against civilians and noted that allowing the invaders to compete would make Bach “an accomplice in this disgusting war”.