Russian athletes should take a public stand against the war in Ukraine if they want to be allowed to participate in the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, said Monday the mayor of kyiv and former world boxing champion, Vitali Klitschko.
“
Russian and Belarusian athletes cannot participate in the Olympic Games in Paris if they do not say + No + to the war.
If they say so publicly, they can, but they are afraid
,” he said in an interview with
AFP
.
"
To every Russian athlete, tell your government, the Russian president to stop this senseless war
", added the mayor of the Ukrainian capital, believing that it was not possible to be "
neutral when people, women, children are killed
”.
"
You are either for or against the war
," he said.
While Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has repeatedly called for the exclusion of Russian and Belarusian athletes from the 2024 Olympics, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) at the end of January proposed a roadmap advocating their return under a neutral flag.
In a letter dated January 31, IOC President Thomas Bach also denounced Ukrainian threats of a boycott in the event of Russian participation, assuring that these "
pressures
" are perceived as "
extremely regrettable
" by many National Olympic Committees .
“
I would be very happy to invite Thomas Bach to Ukraine so that he can see for himself the destroyed villages, the people killed, injured
”, reacted Vitali Klitschko: “
He does not understand, or (then) he plays to a game with Russia, I have no explanation
".
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