BUENOS AIRES (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 10th October, 2018) The International Olympic Committee (IOC) approved on Tuesday the creation of the Refugee Team, which will take part in the 2020 Tokyo Games, the IOC press service said.
"The IOC Session has once again endorsed this initiative. In an ideal world, we would not need to have a Refugee Team at the Olympic Games. But, unfortunately, the reasons why we first created a Refugee Olympic Team before the Olympic Games Rio 2016 continue to persist. We will do our utmost to welcome refugee athletes and give them a home and a flag in the Olympic Village in Tokyo with all the Olympic athletes from 206 National Olympic Committee," IOC President Thomas Bach said after the IOC session in the Argentine capital, as quoted in the statement.
The committee has mandated its commission of Olympic Solidarity to establish the conditions for participation, identification and selection of the Refugee Team in cooperation with the National Olympic Committees and the UN Refugee Agency, among others.
The Refugee Team took part in the Olympic Games Rio in 2016. The 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games will take place on July 24-August 9 and August 25-September 6, respectively.
