Latvia will boycott the Olympics if athletes from Russia and Belarus are allowed

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Latvia will not participate in the Olympic Games together with the aggressor countries of the Russian Federation and Belarus, while Russia continues the war in Ukraine, said the president of the Latvian Olympic Committee Georges Tikmer, the newspaper writes Delfi

Last week, the International Olympic Committee announced that it was calling for exploring ways to return athletes from Russia and Belarus to international competitions.

Tikmer said that if athletes from Russia and Belarus, the Latvian national team will not go to these games.

"We hope that the war will end, Ukraine will win. It will be a completely new situation and new rules of the game. Of course, in this case, Latvian athletes will also be able to participate in such Olympic Games”, — Tikmer said.

The LOC plans to propose to the Latvian sports federations to appeal to the international federations to prevent athletes from Russia and Belarus from participating in the qualifying competitions of the Olympic Games. Meanwhile, the Olympic Council of Asia has announced that athletes from Russia and Belarus will be allowed to compete in the Asian Games this year, but it remains to be seen if they will be able to meet the Olympic qualification criteria.

According to the IOC, governments should not decide which athletes can and cannot compete. No athlete should be prevented from competing on the basis of their nationality.

As a prerequisite for athletes to be able to return to competition, the IOC mentions that they could only compete as neutral athletes, not representing their country or federation, similar to what happens in professional sports leagues in Europe, the United States and Canada, as well as in some individual sports.

Also, athletes could compete if they fully comply with Olympic Charter — these can only be athletes who do not actively support the military operations of the Russian Federation in Ukraine.

In case of non-compliance by athletes with these conditions, international federations and competition organizers must immediately remove them from participation in competitions, informing the IOC about this.< /p> Follow us on Telegram