Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo said on Saturday that athletes from Russia and Belarus will not be “welcomed” at this year's Olympics in the French capital.
“I want to tell the Russian and Belarusian players that they are not welcome in Paris, and I want to tell the Ukrainian players and all Ukrainian people that they are not welcome in Paris,” Hidalgo said in a video posted by the Ukrainian YouTube channel United News. I want to let them know that I strongly support them.”
Hidalgo…
Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo said on Saturday that athletes from Russia and Belarus will not be “welcomed” at this year's Olympics in the French capital.
“I want to tell the Russian and Belarusian players that they are not welcome in Paris, and I want to tell the Ukrainian players and all Ukrainian people that they are not welcome in Paris,” Hidalgo said in a video posted by the Ukrainian YouTube channel United News. I want to let them know that I strongly support them.”
Hidalgo made the comments during a trip to Kiev where he visited the Ukrainian players' training center.
Russian athletes can compete at the Paris Olympics, which will be held from July 26 to August 11, but only as neutral athletes.
Russia and Belarus were banned from attending the opening ceremony, which will be held on the Seine River in the city center.
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In response, the Russian government launched a ferocious attack at the International Olympic Committee, claiming that the IOC's restrictions on Russian athletes constituted “neo-Nazism.”
The IOC last year suspended Russia from participating in the 2024 Games, but gave the green light for Russian athletes to compete as a neutral country unless they actively support the Kremlin's attack on Ukraine.
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