Ukraine violates Charter, Russians and Belarusians are discriminated against: IOC president writes letter on boycott of 2024 Olympics

Reuters reports that the president of the International Olympic Committee, Thomas Bach, made these statements in a letter to Vadym Huttsait, who heads Ukraine's National Olympic Committee and the Ministry of Youth and Sports.

“The participation of neutral athletes with a Russian or Belarusian passport at the Olympic Games Paris 2024 has not even been discussed in concrete terms yet. Therefore, your letter... to your fellow NOCs, to the International Federations, IOC Members and to future Olympic hosts, pressuring them in an attempt to publicly influence their decision making, has been perceived by the vast majority of them as, at the very least, extremely regrettable,” Bach said. 

He emphasized that a boycott of the Paris Games would be a violation of the Olympic Charter.

“It is the responsibility of every NOC... to uphold the fundamental principles of the Olympic Charter. A boycott will violate it and that its inclusion of Russian and Belarusians is based on a U.N. resolution against discrimination within the Olympic movement,” Bach added. 

After Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the IOC banned athletes from Russia and Belarus from participating in international competitions. However, in January 2023, IOC President Thomas Bach advocated for their participation in the 2024 Olympics in Paris under a neutral flag. For this purpose, Russians and Belarusians were allowed to attend the Asian Games, where they will be able to obtain Olympic licenses.

• On January 27, Thomas Bach said that he favored the participation of Russians and Belarusians in the 2024 Olympics, despite Ukraine's threats to boycott the Games.

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

• The IOC responded to the criticism from the Ukrainian authorities and the sports community by calling it “slander.”

• On February 6, the Verkhovna Rada called on the IOC to ban Russian and Belarusian athletes from the 2024 Olympics in Paris.