AfricaSport

Africa gives Russian athletes green light for Paris Olympics-RT News

Paris aims to offer visitors of the 2024 Paris Olympics airborne taxis to tournament sites straight from the airport. - AFP pic

The continent’s Olympic committees voted unanimously to include Russians and Belarusians in next year’s games

Exclusive News

Africa’s national Olympic committees have agreed to support the participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes in next year’s Olympic Games in Paris. While the two nations were sanctioned by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) last year, the organization is now looking to welcome their athletes back to competition.

The Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa (ANOCA) said on Saturday that its members “came out unanimously in favor of the participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes in all international competitions,” after a meeting in Nouakchott, Mauritania, AFP reported.

“No athlete should be prevented from competing just because of their passport,” the statement continued.

ANOCA said it would back the position of International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach, who said in January that his organization was seeking a “pathway” for Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete in 2024 under a neutral flag. Following Bach’s announcement, the Olympic Council of Asia invited both countries to send athletes to the Asian Games in September, where they can gain crucial qualifying points for next year’s summer games.

Ukrainian officials reacted with fury to Bach’s statement, with the country’s sports minister threatening to boycott the games and an aide to President Vladimir Zelensky accusing the IOC, without evidence, of taking Russian bribes to promote “war, murder, and destruction.”

The IOC rejected the accusation, stating that such “defamatory statements” cannot “serve as a basis for any constructive discussion.”

Ukraine’s Western backers have also questioned Bach’s position, with 30 countries writing a letter to the IOC expressing concerns about the supposed “links and affiliations between Russian athletes and the Russian military.” The IOC replied that the letter did not address the “human rights concerns” of the athletes themselves.

Russia has long held that international sporting organizations target its athletes for political reasons. At the time of the IOC’s statement, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Moscow would not comment until a formal decision is made, but said that the statement – which included references to “solidarity with Ukraine” – had “too much politics” in its wording.

Read more

Related posts
AfricaPolitics

Mauritius blocks social media until after election amid wiretapping row

Mauritius, a small island nation in the Indian Ocean, has made headlines in recent days due to a…
Read more
AfricaPolitics

Ethiopia will pursue sea access without war 

Ethiopia’s ambition for sea access has been a long-standing aspiration, rooted in its…
Read more
AfricaPolitics

Kenya swears in new vice president amid legal battle

Kenya recently witnessed a historic moment as it swore in its new Vice President amidst a backdrop…
Read more

Sign up for Africa Insider’s Daily Digest and get the best of  news, tailored for you.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Business

Netflix on the verge of being broke-RT News

Worth reading...