Latvia has announced that it will not participate in the 2024 Olympic Games, along with aggressor countries Russia and Belarus, if the war in Ukraine continues at the time of the games.
This was said by the president of the Latvian Olympic Committee, Georges Tickmer, in an interview with LTV, Delfi reports.
"Latviaʼs position is this — if these games were held now and athletes from Russia and Belarus would participate in them, I think that the Latvian national team would not go to these games. We hope that the war will end, Ukraine will win. It will be a completely new situation and new rules of the game. Of course, in this case, Latvian athletes will also be able to participate in such Olympic Games," said Georges Tickmer.
Latvia will encourage its sports federations to appeal to their international colleagues to prevent athletes from Russia and Belarus from participating in the qualifying competitions of the Olympic Games. At the same time, the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) announced that athletes from Russia and Belarus would be allowed to participate in this yearʼs Asian Games, but it is not yet known whether they will be able to meet the qualification criteria for the Olympic Games.
- On January 25, it became known that Russian and Belarusian athletes were recommended to participate in the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris under a neutral flag. At the same time, the IOC will check each athlete for compliance with the rules of the Olympic Charter and the World Anti-Doping Code. In particular, they will be required not to support the war in Ukraine. In case of non-compliance with the conditions, the participant will be eliminated. In response to such a position, Zelensky invited the head of the International Olympic Committee, Thomas Bach, to Bakhmut so that he would understand that neutrality does not exist.
- The National Olympic Committee of Ukraine will consider the possibility of boycotting the Summer Olympic Games in which Russian and Belarusian athletes are allowed to return to international sports arenas before the end of aggression against Ukraine.
- The Minister of Sports of Poland said that his country, together with others, may present an ultimatum to the leadership of the International Olympic Committee if Russians and Belarusians are admitted to the Olympic Games in 2024.