Volodymyr Zelensky calls for Russia ban from 2024 Olympics
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has called for Russian athletes to be banned from competing at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris after the IOC suggested they would be allowed to enter as neutrals.
Volodymyr Zelensky has called for Russian athletes to be banned from the 2024 Olympics.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has said that Russian and Belarusian athletes could compete at the event in Paris as neutrals but the Ukrainian president suggested that it would show that "terror is somehow acceptable".
The IOC have stated that "no athlete should be prevented from competing just because of their passport."
Zelensky says that he has raised the issue with French President Emmanuel Macron and stressed that Moscow must not be allowed to use the Olympics for propaganda.
Ukraine has also threatened to boycott the 2024 Games if Russian and Belarusian athletes are given permission to compete.
Zelensky suggested that there cannot be neutrality in sport while his country's athletes are dying on the battlefield.
The politician also drew comparison with the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin that took place when the Nazi Party were in power.
Zelensky said: "There was a major Olympic mistake. The Olympic movement and terrorist states definitely should not cross paths."
