The Netherlands condemned the admission of athletes from the Russian Federation to the 2024 Olympic Games under a neutral flag
Dutch Minister of Health, Welfare and Sports Connie Helder expressed regret over the decision of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) regarding athletes from Russia. In her response to a parliamentary inquiry, Helder condemned their admission under a neutral flag to the 2024 Olympic Games, which will be held in Paris 2024. Lenta.ru got acquainted with the text of the statement of the Dutch minister.
On December 8, the IOC allowed Russians and Belarusians to participate in the Olympics in Paris. They will be able to take part in the tournament as individual neutral athletes. At the same time, athletes who support a special operation in Ukraine, or who have connections with the armed forces or security agencies of Russia and Belarus will not be allowed to participate in the 2024 Games. Representatives of team sports will also miss the tournament.
“The Cabinet shares (…) the view that Russia uses sports tournaments for political purposes and is therefore making efforts to prevent the participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes under the national flag in international sports tournaments,” Helder said in a statement published by the German parliament .
The Cabinet of Ministers regrets the IOC’s decision. Our position was and remains that Russia and Belarus should be excluded from participation in international sporting competitions under any flag
The IOC’s decision caused controversy among anti-doping organizations. Thus, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), commenting on this permission, demanded the introduction of new biological passports for Russian athletes.
“The group of so-called neutral athletes will be very small if they take part in the Olympic Games in Paris at all, based on the fact that the Russians will boycott our conditions,” said WADA head Witold Banka.
The US Anti-Doping Agency called the admission of the Russians “a slap in the face to clean athletes.” According to the Americans, Russians passed much fewer doping tests than their competitors during the pre-Olympic cycle. So far, six Russians have qualified for the 2024 Olympics, however, they remain under WADA verification.
Source: Lenta
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