The chairman of the German Parliament’s Sports Committee, Frank Ullrich, has openly criticized the possibility of Russian and Belarusian athletes being allowed to take part in international sporting events, such as next year’s Paris Olympics.
«It is the wrong signal to think about the participation of athletes from Russia as long as Russia wages war on European soil,» Ullrich told Funke Group media earlier Wednesday.
Although the chairman of the parliamentary committee stressed that no person should be disadvantaged simply because of their origin, he stressed his defense of the right to life and freedom, which Russia is undermining in Ukraine.
«The lives and rights of countless people are being disregarded and extinguished by the Russian war of aggression,» Ullrich stressed.
For his part, Ullrich’s ‘number two’, Philip Krämer, has asserted that Belarusian athletes should also not take part in sports competitions as long as his country continues to act as Russia’s close ally in its offensive against Ukraine.
Russian and Belarusian athletes have been banned from most major sporting events since the Russian invasion began almost a year ago. However, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has left the door open for their possible return to sporting events always under a neutral flag.
This proposal has sparked criticism not only from Ukraine, but also from a large part of its European allies -especially the Baltic and Nordic countries, as well as Poland-, which have gone so far as to propose a generalized boycott of the Paris Olympics in 2024.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
