MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 08th July, 2023) About 500 Russian and Belarusian athletes will perform in neutral status at the Asian Summer Games in the Chinese city of Hangzhou from September 23 to October 8, but they will not qualify for medals, Olympic news website insidethegames reported on Saturday, citing a source.
The participation in the Asian Games will help Russian and Belarusian athletes to qualify for the next year's Olympics in Paris, the source was quoted by the news website as saying.
The 42nd General Assembly of the Olympic Committee of Asia (OCA) is taking place in Bangkok on Saturday. In late January, the OCA invited athletes from Russia and Belarus to compete at the Asian Games in Hangzhou. However, in June, Stanislav Pozdnyakov, the president of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC), said the organization had not received an invitation to participate in the Asian Games.
Many sports organizations across the globe have banned Russian and Belarusian athletes from participating in their competitions in response to Moscow's ongoing military operation in Ukraine and Minsk's alleged support for it. The athletes have also been barred from competing under national flags and using national anthems at major international sport events, including the Olympics.
