Senior International Olympic Committee (IOC) Vice-President John Coates is unsure how many Russian athletes will compete as neutral athletes at the Paris Games, but thinks reports that it might be as low as 40 could be close to the mark.Under sanctions put in place because of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, for which Belarus acted as a staging post, the IOC is allowing only some Russian and Belarussian athletes to compete in Paris under tight restrictions.The inclusion of the neutral athletes remains a contentious issue, with Ukraine Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba describing December\u2019s decision to allow them as \u201cshameful\u201d, and Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo saying last week she hoped they would not come.\u201cThe issue is how many of them are going to be there too, because they\u2019re not going to be in any team sports because they can\u2019t compete as Russia,\u201d Coates said in Sunday\u2019s edition of Sydney\u2019s Daily Telegraph.\u201cAnd then anyone who is prepared out of the Russian military clubs, they\u2019re not going. I don\u2019t know, but obviously some athletes might choose not to go if they\u2019re not competing for Russia.\u201cI mightn\u2019t be right, but I think that I\u2019ve read something that it might be as little as 40.\u201dNeutral athletes will compete only in individual sports without flags, emblems or national anthems, and athletes who actively support the war in Ukraine, or are contracted to the Russian or Belarusian military, are not eligible.Moscow, which describes the invasion as a \u201cspecial military operation\u201d, called the restrictions \u201cillegitimate, unfair and unacceptable\u201d, but Russia\u2019s Olympic chief, Stanislav Pozdnyakov, has confirmed its athletes would not boycott the Games.Because of doping sanctions that prevented them from competing under the Russian flag, 335 athletes took part in the 2021 Tokyo Summer Games as the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) team, winning 71 medals. Belarus sent 101 athletes who won seven medals.The ROC has since been suspended by the IOC for recognising regional Olympic Councils in territories annexed from Ukraine, a decision upheld by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) last month.Of 4,600 athletes who had qualified for the Games at the time of the December decision on neutral athletes, eight were Russians and three held Belarusian passports. More than 60 Ukrainians had qualified.Some sports, such as equestrian, have announced they will not allow any athletes from the two countries to compete, while World Athletics has had a blanket ban on Russian and Belarusian athletes since early 2022.Others, such as World Swimming and the International Tennis Federation (ITF), will allow Russians and Belarussians to compete under the IOC restrictions.Russia\u2019s world number four tennis player, Daniil Medvedev, said earlier this month he was looking forward to competing and would abide by the rules.The Paris Olympics run from July 26 to Aug 11.(Reuters)neutral athletes. Russian athletes, neutral athletes, Paris Games<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Senior International Olympic Committee (IOC) Vice-President John Coates is unsure about the exact number of Russian athletes who will compete as neutral athletes at the Paris Games, but suggests that reports of around 40 could be accurate. This is due to sanctions from the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, with Belarus acting as a staging post, allowing only some Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete under strict conditions. The decision to include these neutral athletes has been criticized by Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba and Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo. Neutral athletes will only compete in individual sports without national symbols, and those supporting the war in Ukraine or contracted to the Russian or Belarusian military are ineligible. Despite restrictions, Russia’s Olympic chief, Stanislav Pozdnyakov, confirmed Russian athletes would not boycott the Games. Previously, 335 athletes competed under the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) team in Tokyo 2021, and Belarus sent 101 athletes. The ROC has been suspended by the IOC for recognizing regional Olympic Councils in annexed Ukrainian territories, a decision upheld by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). As of the decision in December, eight Russians and three Belarusians had qualified for the Paris Olympics, with over 60 Ukrainians also qualified. Some sports have banned Russian and Belarusian athletes, while others, like World Swimming and the International Tennis Federation (ITF), will allow them under IOC restrictions. Russia’s world number four tennis player, Daniil Medvedev, expressed his intention to compete and follow the rules. The Paris Olympics are scheduled from July 26 to August 11.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":4510,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"Default","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[2108,990,2149,1646,932,3,1392,1295,187,2295,2265,2298,423,2299,2296,19,2297,331,337,421,1358,943,340,114,17,1180,293,18],"class_list":["post-4509","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cyprus","tag-athletes","tag-athletics","tag-ban","tag-boycott","tag-court","tag-cyprus","tag-foreign-minister","tag-inclusion","tag-international","tag-john-coates","tag-medvedev","tag-neutral-athletes","tag-olympics","tag-paris-games","tag-paris-olympics","tag-russia","tag-russian-athletes","tag-sanctions","tag-sport","tag-sports","tag-support","tag-sydney","tag-tennis","tag-top-news","tag-ukraine","tag-ukrainian","tag-war","tag-world"],"acf":{"keyphrase":"","keywords":"","sourceimg":"","country-category":""},"yoast_head":"\n