President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky reacted to the statement of the head of the International Olympic Committee Thomas Bach, who allowed the participation of athletes from the Russian Federation in the 2024 Olympics in Paris. The head of state invited the IOC president to Bakhmut in the Donetsk region, which the invaders continue to destroy, so that he could see what the Russians are doing with Ukraine.
Zelensky said this on Friday, January 27, in his evening circulation (Scroll to the bottom of the page to watch the video.) He noted that during such a war, which is now waged by the Russian Federation against Ukraine, there can be no neutrality.
The Garant recalled that tyrants often try to use sports for their ideological interests. However, it should be remembered that any neutral flag – in our case, the one under which Russian athletes compete – is stained with blood.
At a time when Ukrainian athletes are forced to fight back against Russian invaders instead of training and competing, Russia continues to claim the lives of hundreds of Ukrainians and Ukrainian women who could represent our country on the world stage with its vile blows.
“You can’t help but be disappointed by the statements of the current head of the International Olympic Committee, Thomas Bach. I spoke with him many times. And I never heard how he intends to protect sports from war propaganda if he returns Russian athletes to international competitions,” Zelensky said.
In connection with recent events, the president announced the start of a “marathon of honesty.” Its goal is to cleanse the leadership of international Olympic structures from hypocrisy and prevent any attempts to return representatives of a terrorist state to world sports.
“We will do everything so that the world protects sports from the political and any other influence of a terrorist state, which is simply inevitable if Russian athletes participate in competitions, and even more so in the Paris Olympics,” the head of state said.
He stressed that Russia must first stop the aggression and terror. Only after that it will be possible to talk about the participation of its athletes in international competitions. “Olympic principles and war are fundamentally opposed to each other,” Zelensky says.
As reported by OBOZREVATEL, the International Olympic Committee ready to consider the return of athletes from Russia and Belarus to international competitions. One of the main conditions is distancing from the war in Ukraine.
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