Volodymyr Zelensky to open summit to discuss Russian involvement at Paris Games

The IOC is working on a pathway to enable Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete in the French capital.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will address a meeting of sports ministers via videolink on Friday (Peter Nicholls/PA) (PA Wire)

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky will address a sports ministers’ summit chaired from London on Friday to discuss Russian participation at next year’s Paris Olympics.

The International Olympic Committee is working to create a pathway to enable Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete under strict conditions as neutrals despite the ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

Former Culture Secretary Michelle Donelan has criticised the IOC’s stance, and her successor Lucy Frazer will lead the meeting of ministers on Friday to co-ordinate an international response.

President Zelensky will make an opening address to the meeting via video link, following on from his visit to the UK on Wednesday.

Ukraine’s sports minister has threatened to boycott the Games if Russian and Belarusian athletes are allowed to compete, while Zelensky has previously said that attempts to bring Russian athletes back into the Olympic Games “are attempts to tell the whole world that terror is somehow acceptable”.

Earlier this week the Olympic committees of Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden and Denmark backed calls for the ban on Russian and Belarusian athletes to be upheld for the Paris 2024 Games.

Last week Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia and Poland all voiced their opposition to the inclusion of athletes from Russia and Belarus.

Frazer said: “President Zelensky told the UK in Parliament this week of the suffering still being felt by many Ukrainians. As he did so the IOC was continuing to ignore the international allies stepping up their efforts for peace and disregard how the Olympics will give (Russian president Vladimir) Putin the perfect platform to promote Russia and legitimise his illegal war.

“We’re approaching a year since this barbaric invasion began. We must urge the IOC to show that the Olympic values mean something. We must make clear there are consequences to this illegal invasion.

“We cannot allow Russian athletes to line up alongside Team GB and everyone else on the world stage.”

The IOC initially recommended the exclusion of Russian and Belarusian athletes from international sport in the days following the invasion.

However, its president Thomas Bach has since said that was a measure designed only to protect those athletes, and said it was now imperative that athletes not be discriminated against simply because of the passport they hold.

The IOC has warned any boycott will only affect the athletes of the country or countries involved, and that a boycott would go against the fundamental principles of the Olympic Movement.