The British government has called on major sponsors of the Olympics to convince the International Olympic Committee (IOC) that athletes from Russia and Belarus should not be allowed to participate in the Games in Paris, in particular, in a neutral status.
Minister for Culture, Media and Sports Lucy Fraser has sent a letter to the IOC to pressure the IOC on the issue to the UK divisions of Olympic sponsors, including Coca-Cola, Intel, Samsung and Visa. This is an extremely unusual step, the newspaper notes.
We know that sports and politics in Russia and Belarus are closely intertwined. We are confident that the regimes in Russia and Belarus should not be allowed to use sport for their propaganda purposes,” the letter says.
Fraser also writes that it is not yet clear how the “neutral” athlete model is proposed to be implemented, noting that there are doubts that it will work at all. Until all these issues are resolved, the Minister of Culture, Media and Sports notes, athletes from Russia and Belarus should not be allowed to participate in the Olympics.
At the end of January 2023, the IOC called on sports federations to allow athletes from Russia and Belarus to compete in a neutral status for meeting a number of conditions, including the condition that they do not support the war. After that, more than 30 countries signed a joint statement in which they supported the ban on the participation of Muscovites and Belarusians in international competitions, including the Olympics.
On March 10, the International Fencing Federation (FIE) was the first to decide to follow the recommendations of the IOC and allow athletes from Russia and Belarus to participate in competitions under its auspices, thus giving them the opportunity to qualify for the Olympics.
Source: Racurs
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.