Latvia has joined Kyiv in threatening to boycott the 2024 Olympics and qualifiers if Russian and Belarusian athletes are included whereas the struggle continues in Ukraine.
Athletes from Russia and Belarus, the nation which aided President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine a yr in the past, have been largely banned from worldwide competitions since.
However the Worldwide Olympic Committee (IOC) has opened a door to their competitors in qualifiers and potential participation as neutrals on the 2024 Paris Video games.
“For so long as there may be an ongoing struggle in Ukraine, participation of the Russian and Belarusian athletes within the Olympic Video games underneath any flag is unacceptable,” Latvia’s Nationwide Olympic Committee (NOC) mentioned in a press release on Wednesday.
The 2 international locations’ presence in Paris could be an “encouragement for additional escalation of warfare, and normalization of struggle crimes and brutal violence,” it added, saying Latvians shouldn’t participate in any competitions with athletes from Russia or Belarus.
Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, with a few of its troops coming into from territory in Belarus, and has been bombarding Ukrainian cities since.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s authorities has additionally threatened to boycott the Olympics, however Russia has mentioned a marketing campaign to exclude it from worldwide sport will fail.
Moscow says it’s defending its personal safety and denies accusations of widespread atrocities in Ukraine.
Latvia, which borders Russia, has been a robust supporter of Ukraine along with Baltic neighbors Estonia and Lithuania. However neither of these nations are contemplating boycotts of Paris, their Olympic committee heads informed the media.
The Baltic ministers of sport will meet on Thursday to debate a joint enchantment to the IOC to ban Russian and Belarusian sportsmen from all worldwide competitions, Lithuanian Minister of Schooling, Science and Sport Jurgita Siugzdiniene mentioned on Wednesday.
