French President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday that he had “
spoken
” with Volodymyr Zelensky about a possible exclusion of Russian athletes from the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, demanded by the Ukrainian president, while specifying that he would personally decide “
at the summer
”.
"
We talked about it, I also explained how things stood
," said the French president on his arrival at a European summit in Brussels, the day after a dinner with the Ukrainian leader in Paris.
At the end of January, President Zelensky asked Emmanuel Macron that the Russians be banned from the next Olympic Games (July 26-August 11, 2024), due to the invasion launched almost a year ago by Moscow in Ukraine.
Despite repeated calls from Kiev, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) is now pushing international federations to consider their participation "
under a neutral banner
".
According to the French president, the IOC's position "
does not cover the period of the Olympic Games and the Paralympic Games which will be held in France
".
“
It is in the summer that we will have a review clause and we will assess it depending on the circumstances, and depending on what is being held on the ground
,” he added.
Asked to give his position as president of the host country, he replied: "
I will tell you when there is a date clause, I am not going to answer you today a question that does not arise. don't pose
".
But relaunched to find out if he did not exclude banning Russian athletes, he assured: “
no
”.
Since the reappearance of the debate on the presence or not of the Russians and Belarusians in Paris, the various protagonists return the responsibility for a decision on this subject.
The IOC insists that it is the international sports federations which remain "
the only authorities
" governing their competitions at the Olympic Games.
The said federations remain silent for the moment.
Even if it traditionally sends its invitations to the national Olympic committees a year before the Games, the IOC has never announced a decision “
before the summer
” like that mentioned by the French authorities.
