International Athletics Agency Rejects Russian And Belarusian Athletes To Appear At The 2024 Paris Olympics

JAKARTA International athletics agencies ensure they remain at the establishment of not allowing Russian and Belarusian athletes to appear at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

This is in response to the decision of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) which confirmed athletes from the two countries who qualified for the 2024 Paris Olympics will be allowed to participate as neutral athletes.

"You may see some neutral athletes from Russia and Belarus in Paris, it's just that they won't be appearing in athletics," International Athletics Council president Sebastian Coe was quoted as saying by BBC Sport.

The International Athletics Council said athletes, support staff, and officials from Russia and Belarus were still not included in all international athletic events.

"We have a permanent position. I think international federations should make decisions that they think are in the best interest of their sport. That's what our board has done," said Coe.

Previously, the IOC had confirmed that it would allow athletes from Russia and Belarus to take part in the prestigious quadrennial event.

The requirement to participate as a neutral athlete is to compete without the flag, emblem, and national anthem of the two countries.

The IOC in a statement confirmed that allowing individuals to take part in the big four-year event is a matter of "respecting human rights".

"The IOC executive board has decided that individual neutral athletes (AIN) who have met the requirements through the qualifying system on the field of the game will be declared eligible to compete in the 2024 Paris Olympics in accordance with the requirements outlined," the IOC said.

The IOC's decision comes after the Olympic sports federation requested that Russian and Belarusian athletes be allowed to compete as neutral athletes in Paris earlier this week.

Athletes from these countries were previously banned from competing in key events following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Ukraine had threatened to boycott the 2024 Olympics if the ban was lifted. However, Ukrainian Sports Minister Vadym Badminton last July said it could stop the boycott if Russian and Belarusian athletes were forced to compete under a neutral flag.

Meanwhile, organizers of the 2024 Paris Olympics said they were paying attention to the decisions the IOC made and asserted that the qualification for the Olympics was under the responsibility of the IOC and the International Federation.

"The responsibility of Paris 2024 is to host athletes who have qualified for the Olympics in the best condition, regardless of their citizenship," the organizer said.