No place at Olympics for those tolerant of Russia's war says Duda
Andrzej Duda, Poland's president, said on Thursday that no one who tolerates or approves of Russia's aggression against Ukraine should take part in next year's Olympic Games.
Poland has already demanded that Belarusian and Russian athletes should be banned from participating in the games.
Duda was asked by journalists during a visit to London about his views on Russian and Belarusian athletes participating in next year's Olympic Games in Paris.
"I absolutely believe that no one who regards Russian aggression against Ukraine, the policy conducted by Vladimir Putin, by the Russian government, with tolerance or approval, should take part in the great world of sport, the great world of peace and friendship that is the Olympic Games," Duda replied. "And I don't think anyone has any doubt about that."
In late January, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced that Russians and Belarusians were to be permitted to take part in the 2024 Paris Olympics but would not be allowed to fly national colours or hear their countries' anthems.
IOC President Thomas Bach has said that opening the way for Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete did not mean the IOC was "on the wrong side of history," after Ukrainian sportspeople included the accusation in a letter to him in response to him calling for Ukraine to cease threatening to boycott the Paris games.
Last week, the majority of sports ministers from 35 countries who met online called for the exclusion of Russian and Belarusian competitors from the 2024 Olympics.
