Moscow, Mar. 20, (dpa/GNA) – The Kremlin on Wednesday criticised the exclusion of Russian and Belarusian athletes from the parade of nations at the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics and from its medal table.
Commenting on an according decision from the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Russian state media quoted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying that “we definitely treat it negatively.
It is detrimental to the ideas of Olympism and infringes upon the interests of athletes, Olympians. It undoubtedly contradicts
the basic ideology of the Olympic Movement and is absolutely detrimental to the IOC reputation.”
The IOC announced its decision on Tuesday after an executive board meeting, saying the eligible Russians and Belarusians will be “individual athletes” and not members of a nation but that “an opportunity will be provided for them to experience the event” on site.
It said a decision on the August 11 closing ceremony would come at a later stage.
The July 26 opening ceremony will not be in a stadium and the parade of athletes will take place on boats on the River Seine.
Russians and Belarusians are only allowed to compete at the Paris Games in individual sports and as neutral athletes without any national symbols in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. A special flag and anthem for them was also unveiled on Tuesday.
Qualified athletes must also pass an IOC panel which will review strict entry criteria including no affiliation with Russia’s military and security services as well as not publically supporting the war.
The IOC said that so far 12 Russians and 7 Belarusians have qualified for the Games, and that it was likely 36 Russian and 22 Belarusians would qualify, pending the review.