Russian athletes at the Paris Olympics? “We don’t care what Putin thinks,” says Amélie Oudéa-Castéra – Libération

2024-01-03 14:20:54

The French Minister of Sports, Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, responded on Wednesday January 3 to Vladimir Putin’s comments on the participation under a neutral banner of Russian athletes in the Paris Games.

In mid-December, Vladimir Putin did not pull any punches. For the President of Russia, having his athletes and those of Belarus compete under a neutral banner during the Paris Olympics next summer amounts to “burying the Olympic movement”.

“We don’t care what he thinks,” the French Minister of Sports, Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, indirectly responded to him on Wednesday January 3. There are rules which are set by the IOC, it is the IOC which has the authority to decide who participates or who does not participate.

“What Putin is trying to do is to exploit sport for the glory of his own country. These are provocative messages, we have also heard him talk about ethnic discrimination, all of this is rubbish,” insisted the minister on France 2.

In a decision rendered at the beginning of December, after months of negotiations, the International Olympic Committee authorized Russian and Belarusian athletes to participate in the Paris 2024 Games but under several conditions: not wearing the colors of their countries and competing under a neutral banner only. , outside of team events and provided that they did not actively support the Russian invasion of Ukraine. There will therefore be no Russian flag or anthem in Paris this summer. A similar decision was taken in September by the International Paralympic Committee.

On Sunday, the president of the Organizing Committee for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games (Cojo), Tony Estanguet, explained that he “rather” supported the IOC’s decision. “I find it good to allow athletes who have no contact with the authorities (Russian and Belarusian) to be able to participate,” he explained on RMC. Sanctioning athletes who have no responsibility in international conflicts, I find it inappropriate.”

The Russian Minister of Sports, Oleg Matytsin, denounced the “discriminatory” conditions imposed by the IOC: “They harm the Olympic Games themselves and not Russian sport. This approach is unacceptable.” However, he confirmed at the beginning of December the participation of his athletes in the Paris Games. Currently, according to the IOC, only eleven athletes from these two countries – eight Russians and three Belarusians – meet the specifications and are qualified. Against more than sixty Ukrainians already in the running for the competition.