JAKARTA - The International Olympic Committee (IOC) said it supports sanctions imposed on Russia and Belarus regarding the Moscow invasion of Ukraine, a week after it "appears" to open the door for the two to compete in the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Tuesday's IOC statement, in response to Stanislav Pozdnyakov's comments, head of the Russian Olympic Committee the day before after last week's IOC announcement, that athletes from both countries, who are banned from competing in Europe, may be allowed to get slots for Paris 2024 through the Asian qualifying system.
"Sanctions against the Russian and Belarusian countries and governments cannot be negotiated. They have been unanimously confirmed by a recent Olympic summit meeting on December 9, 2022," the IOC tweeted.
The sanctions include not inviting government officials from both Russia and Belarus to international sporting events and not hosting sporting events in the two countries.
Last week, the IOC said the Asian Olympic Council had offered Russian and Belarusian athletes the opportunity to compete in Asia, drawing protests from Kyiv calling for Russian sportsmen to be banned due to the Russian invasion.
Pozdnyakov responded to this by telling reporters: "Of course, there are some attempts by the International Olympic Committee to allow our athletes to participate in international competitions. Maybe at the upcoming Olympics too, of course, we fully welcome it," he said, warning against what he said was an "additional requirement" imposed on Russian athletes.
The sanctions against the Russian and Belarusian States and Governments are not negotiable. They have been unanimously confirmed by the recent Olympic Summit meeting on 9 December 2022. ➡️ IOC reaction to comments made by the ROC President Stanislav Pozdnyakov. pic.twitter.com/BuQdZNseDf
— IOC MEDIA (@iocmedia) January 31, 2023
As previously reported, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said allowing Russia to compete in the 2024 Olympics was tantamount to showing that "terror is somehow acceptable."
Ukrainian President Mykhailo Podolyak's adviser said on Monday the IOC "promoting violence, mass killings, destruction" and that Russia's presence at the Olympics would provide a "platform" country to promote genocide.
The IOC, which has also handed over the issue of participating in the Russian Olympics to individual sports federations, issued a statement saying it "rejected this statement as strongly as possible and other slanderous statements. They cannot be used as a basis for constructive discussions."
Ukraine hopes to gain broad international support for banning Russian and Belarusian athletes from the Paris Olympics, sports minister Vadymeksait said on Tuesday, while officials have also spoken of a possible boycott if they are allowed to compete.
Since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, many sports bodies have suspended Russian teams or athletes in protest, with the IOC recommending events in Russia to be canceled, with Russian and Belarusian athletes competing under the neutral flag.
Previously, the Russian Olympic team had faced restrictions after being found to have violated anti-doped regulations, and competed under a neutral flag at last year's Winter Olympics in Beijing.
It is known, the IOC wants to include Russian and Belarusian athletes as neutral in 2024, which means competing under the Olympic flag, but it is still unclear whether and how they can qualify for the quadrennial world sports event.
Several national Olympic committees have supported the athlete's possible return under the neutral flag.
The IOC said last week, after consulting with stakeholders that "no athletes should be banned from competing just because of their passports".
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