Nearly 50 pct want Poland to boycott Paris Olympics

In all, 47 percent of Poles believe that Poland should boycott the Paris 2024 Olympics if Russian and Belarusian athletes are allowed to participate, a recent poll has shown.  

"Poland should not take part in the Paris 2024 Olympics, it should boycott the event," said 47 percent of the respondents to the Social Changes survey published on Sunday when asked what Poland should do if the International Olympic Committee (IOC) gives Russian and Belarusian athletes the chance to compete.

Thirty-eight percent said that Poland should take part in the Olympics next year, while 15 percent stated that Poland should allow its athletes to compete under a neutral flag.

Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, Russian and Belarusian sportspeople were banned from taking part in many sporting events.

Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, 244 Ukrainian sportsmen have been killed. 

In late January, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said that it had been looking at options to include Russian and Belarusian athletes as neutral contestants at the Paris 2024 Olympics, which would mean competing under the Olympic flag, but only those who did not support Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The governments of 34 countries, including Poland, are demanding that the IOC review this decision.

Social Changes carried out the poll on March 10-13 on a representative sample of 1,050 people.