"Sports should not be politicized": Macron wants Russians, Belarusians to compete at Olympics

French President Emmanuel Macron believes that Russian and Belarusian athletes should participate in the 2024 Olympics in Paris

The President of the International Olympic Committee, Thomas Bach, reports this.

“President Macron said that sport should not have been politicized, and stressed that representatives of all countries, including those at war, should participate in the 2024 Olympics and Paralympics. The UN General Assembly, which includes Ukraine, Russia, and Belarus, recognized that all competitions should be organized in the spirit of peace. The resolution also supported the political neutrality of the Olympic movement, as well as the mission of the IOC and the Olympic movement,” Bach said.

Russians and Belarusians were banned from participating in the 2022 Paralympics in Beijing.  It began on March 4, after the start of a full-scale war in Ukraine.