Anne Hidalgo, the mayor of Paris, host city of the 2024 Olympic Games, has decided to adopt the hard line advocated by Kiev, saying that she is in favor of the outright exclusion of Russian athletes "
as long as there is war
" in Ukraine.
A "
clarification
", affirmed the entourage of the mayor of Paris, while Ms. Hidalgo let it be known on Tuesday morning on
France info
that she was now opposed to the presence of Russian athletes at the Paris Games as long as the war led by Vladimir Putin continues in Ukraine.
But nearly a year after Moscow began to invade Ukraine, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has drawn up a roadmap to reintegrate them into world sport, saying "
no athlete should be banned from competition on the sole basis of his passport
”.
Despite repeated calls from Kiev to ban Russian and Belarusian athletes from the 2024 Olympics, the IOC has thus declared to "
study
" the possibility of authorizing them to participate, under a neutral banner.
Emmanuel Macron, he has still not spoken on the subject.
Contacted Tuesday by
AFP
, the Elysée and the IOC did not react to the new position of the mayor of Paris.
Referring to the IOC's statement of January 25, the Ministry of Sports and the Olympic Games explained to AFP that the question of "
possible participation
" under a neutral banner is "
discussed
" by the IOC but "
has not been subject to any decision
" for the Paris Olympics.
And reaffirmed France's "
support
" " for the
maintenance of all economic, political, diplomatic, sporting and cultural sanctions
" against Russia.
Ultimately, "
it's up to the IOC to decide
", recalled Anne Hidalgo, whose position has evolved since the end of January, when she said she was in favor of their participation "
under a neutral banner
", so as not to "
deprive athletes of their competition
”.