International Olympic Committee chief Thomas Bach welcomed on Monday the G7 leaders' pledge to uphold the "autonomy of sport" after they said that Russian and Belarusian athletes could compete as neutrals
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 22nd May, 2023) International Olympic Committee chief Thomas Bach welcomed on Monday the G7 leaders' pledge to uphold the "autonomy of sport" after they said that Russian and Belarusian athletes could compete as neutrals.
"This commitment to the autonomy of sports organizations comes at a crucial time, when it is threatened by a few governments. Therefore, we are very grateful to the G7 Leaders for their unequivocal statement," Bach said.
Several Western governments have been pushing for a blanket ban on athletes hailing from Russia or Belarus. Bach said some European countries were also putting in place obstacles against organizers of international competitions on their territory.
"The IOC sincerely hopes that these countries will take this G7 statement into serious consideration so that international sport can once again live up to its mission to unite the world in peaceful competition," he added.
The IOC recommended in March that Russians and Belarusians should be allowed to compete as individual neutral athletes as long as they do not actively support Russia in its conflict with Ukraine or are contracted by their national military or national security agencies.
