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Russian and Belarusian athletes have no place in competitions - IOC President

Thomas Bach specified his attitude towards sanctions.

Russian and Belarusian athletes have no place in competitions - IOC President
Thomas Bach
Photo: olympics.com

IOC President Thomas Bach shared his views on removing Russia and Belarus from international competition.

"The world community reacted in an unprecedented way to what is widely considered a turning point in world history. The UN General Assembly deplored the aggression by the Russian Federation in the strongest terms with a most exceptional majority," Bach said in a statement, according to IOC press office.

"We will continue to expose the people and organizations responsible for this war in breach of the Olympic Truce. Sports competitions or events should not take place in the Russian Federation or the Republic of Belarus.

“No national or state symbols of these countries should be displayed at any event organized by the Olympic Movement.

“In so doing so, we arewere demonstrating our solidarity with the Ukrainian people. We stand in solidaritywere sharing the emotions with the people across the globe who, like us, are calling for peace," the Head of Olympic Movement added.

"We will not fall into the trap of the cheap argument that this would be a politicization of sport, going against the Olympic Charter, which requires political neutrality.

"Who so blatantly violates the Olympic Truce with political means cannot denounce the consequences as being politically motivated," he said.

Earlier, Russian and Belarusian Paralympians were not admitted to the 2022 Paralympics in Beijing.

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