Singgung Berlin 1936, Ukralian Chief Of Staff Urusak IOC Larang Rusia Follow The 2024 Paris Olympics

Illustration of the 2024 Paris Olympics. (Wikimedia Commons/Anne Jea)

JAKARTA - Ukrainian Chief of Staff Volodymyr Zelensky urged the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to ban Russian athletes from participating in the 2024 Paris Summer games, referring to the 1936 Olympics in Berlin.

"The 1936 match is a stain in the history of the International Olympic Committee (IOC)," Andriy Yermak said in an opinion article for 'The Athletic'.

"The open discrimination of the Nazi regime against Jews and other 'non-Arya' has become common knowledge. But it did not result in the cancellation of the Olympics. It also did not cause a high-profile political scandal," he continued.

Last month the IOC said, although it would prohibit officials, flags, the national anthem and colors of Russia and Belarus, "no athletes should be prevented from competing just because of their passports."

"Therefore, the athlete's participation path in competitions under strict conditions must be explored further," said the IOC.

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. Later, the IOC said it supported sanctions imposed on these countries against the Russian invasion.

"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.

Yermak said the idea of athletes participating under a "almost irrelevant" neutral banner.

"Everyone already knows who they are and where they came from. In 2014, everyone also knew who the Russian special forces were when they pretended to be residents of Donbas and Crimea during their illegal annexation," he wrote.

The organizing committee for the 2024 Paris Olympics stressed that it would comply with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) decision on the participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes in the Olympics, after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky urged authorities to ban Russia's participation, in line with the invasion of Ukraine.

According to the Paris 2024 committee, the sanctions "directly or indirectly affect the participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes in certain qualifying matches for Paris 2024".

The Paris 2024 committee explained that their hands are tied to who can qualify for the next Summer Olympics.

"Regarding the presence of Russian and Belarusian athletes in Paris 2024, it should be remembered that the qualification system is determined by international federations, the IOC and the IPC (International Paralympic Committee)," the committee explained.

"Our hope is that the Olympics, Paralympics and athletes will experience the 2024 Paris Olympics in the spirit of peace, respecting the values of brotherhood and solidarity," the committee wrote.

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