Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo conveyed her reservations about Russia’s participation at the Paris 2024 Summer Olympic Games on Thursday. In an interview with Reuters, she stated her belief the Olympic Games are inseparable from geopolitics.
She stated, “for me the Olympic Games are also a part of this world of geopolitics.” Hidalgo added, “what is happening today does not effectively put Russia in this grouping of peaceful countries.”
Her comments seem to take aim at the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) continual standpoint the Olympic Games are to act as a vehicle of peace.
During his speech at the opening ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games, IOC President Thomas Bach appealed to world leaders to observe their commitment to the Olympic Truce, stating “give peace a chance.”
Russia initiated its invasion of Ukraine only weeks removed from Bach’s speech. The country has claimed its military activity in Ukraine is a “special operation” to disarm and “denazify” Ukraine.
However, Russia has faced heavy international sanctions for its actions, including a recommendation from the IOC its athletes, officials, and other stakeholders in international sports be barred from international competition.
While rare in the last few decades, countries have previously been banned from competing at the Olympic Games. Multiple countries were barred from participating in the Olympic Games following both World Wars, while numerous other nations have boycotted the Olympic Games for political reasons in the past.
A decision to ban Russia from competing at the 2024 Summer Olympics would likely have to come directly from the IOC. Hidalgo didn’t state an explicit timeframe for when such a decision would be required, but she told Reuters, “I am very pragmatic and we will make a decision when the moment comes. That’s it.”
She added, “Vladimir Putin is breaching international law, he does not recognize the existence of international law...We will have to take that into account.”
For now, Russian athletes remain eligible to compete at the Paris 2024 Summer Olympic Games.
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