Mascots of the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Paris 2024 in a picture from November 10, 2022.
Prague – According to the Senate, the Czech Olympic Committee should refuse to participate in the meeting of the International Olympic Committee Russian and Belarusian athletes and officials at next year's Summer Olympics in Paris. At the same time, he should “by all means” prevent the start of Russian and Belarusian athletes in the qualifications for the Olympic Games. The upper parliamentary chamber agreed on this today with the votes of 63 of the 67 senators present at the initiative of its subcommittee for sports.
Advertisement'; }
According to Senate Vice President Jiří Růžička (for TOP 09), the call is a support for the position of the Czech Olympic Committee and an attempt to change the ambiguous position of the IOC. “It is unthinkable for a country that provoked a war to promote its regime through its athletes,” said Růžička. According to STAN Senator David Smoljak, the International Olympic Committee's argument that athletes are not involved in the aggression against Ukraine is “incredibly embarrassing”.
The WWTP has already declared through the mouth of its chairman Jiří Kejval that he is against the start of Russian and Belarusian athletes at the top event of the next season. At the same time, he pointed out that their possible participation will be decided by the IOC executive committee, in which the Czech Republic is not represented. However, because he wants to take an active part in the negotiations on the participation or non-participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes in Paris, he initiated the creation of an expert group to try to find the legal bases on the basis of which athletes from countries participating in the war conflict in Ukraine would they were not allowed to present in Paris.
“Based on the information we will get from them (experts), we would generally like to prevent dictatorial regimes from abusing the Olympic Games for their own promotion. We are not only concerned with these Games, but also others,” Kejval said in February. He wants to solve the situation through diplomatic and legal means and by submitting proposals. “To try to be at the negotiating table, where the possible participation or non-participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes will be discussed,” said Kejval.
The chairman of the senatorial club SEN 21 and Pirates Václav Láska recalled that many Russian athletes are members of the army that murders Ukrainian athletes. According to the chairman of the ODS and TOP 09 senators, Zdeňko Nytra, or the chairman of the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee, Pavel Fischer, even attempts to have Russian and Belarusian athletes start under a neutral flag cannot be accepted. “The Olympics would be militarized in the same way that the entire Russian society is being militarized,” Fischer added.
According to the adopted resolution, the Senate “appeals to the Czech Olympic Committee to strongly reject the participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes and officials at the 2024 Olympics”. At the same time, it “asks the Czech Olympic Committee to use all means to prevent the start of Russian and Belarusian athletes in the qualifications for the 2024 Olympic Games”. violations of human rights and freedoms, democratic values and crimes against humanity. She supported the sanctions against Russia and Belarus that the International Olympic Committee adopted in 2022 and which are still in place.
