MARSEILLE: The head of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games Tony Estanguet said on Friday it was for the International Olympic Comm­ittee (IOC) to decide whether Russian and Belarusian athletes can participate in the Games next year.

Earlier this week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy urged the governing body to ban them from the sporting extravaganza, stating that allowing Russia to compete at the Games was tantamount to showing that “terror is somehow acceptable”.

Three-time Olympic champion and President of the Paris 2024 Organising Committee Estanguet told Reuters that he was “in favour of maintaining this symbol of universality for the Games” when asked about Russian and Belarusian participation.

Yet he said the decision rested with the Games’ governing body.

“It’s not in the charge of Paris 2024 to decide who is allowed to participate, it’s about the IOC, it’s about the IPC, it’s about the international federations who will decide which delegations will be allowed to participate,” Estanguet said.

When asked about the issue, an official from French President Emmanuel Macron’s office also said it was ultimately up to the IOC to decide whether to let Russian athletes compete, and that Macron was in favour of respecting historical precedents and letting them take part under a neutral banner.

Estanguet told AFP that athletes should not “suffer” from decisions they do not

control.

“Many athletes were “not involved at all in these decisions right now and, personally, I think they shouldn’t suffer the consequences of decisions that don’t concern them,” he said. “We’re hoping a maximum number of delegations and athletes can live their dream of taking part in the Games.”

Estanguet spoke on the Old Port of Marseille as part of a media event to announce the torch relay for the Games.

Organisers announced that the torch will arrive in Marseille from Greece, the spiritual home of the Olympics, on a three-masted ship in April 2024 to set the tone for a Games whose opening ceremony will be held on the Seine in Paris.

“In the spring of 2024, Marseille will have the honour and good fortune to be the first city to welcome the Olympic flame on French soil,” organisers Paris 2024 said in a statement.

“The Belem, a majestic three-masted ship, will carry the flame across the Mediterranean Sea from Athens to Marseille, two cities closely connected by a shared history.”

The ancient Greek colony of Massalia was founded on the French Mediterranean coast in 600 BC. The settlement would become modern-day Marseille.

Estanguet said Marseille “was a natural and clear choice” to host the arrival of the torch, which will travel to the Marseille marina — where Olympic sailing competitions will be based — and the Marseille stadium hosting Olympic football games.

After that it will be carried overland in the traditional torch relay, before arriving in Paris to light the cauldron and officially open the 2024 Games, which run July 26-Aug 11.

Friday’s announcement came as the general assembly of Ukraine’s National Olympic Committee was meeting in Kyiv to discuss a possible boycott of Paris 2024 if Russian athletes are allowed to compete.

The meeting did not commit to a boycott but approved plans to consult with and persuade sports officials around the world over the next two months.

The committee members voted for “consultations on preventing the participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes in all international competitions and a possible boycott.”

ESTONIA THREATENS TO BOYCOTT

Poland said on Thursday that it would be possible to build a coalition of some 40 countries, including the US, Britain and Canada, by Feb 10 supporting the call to block Russian and Belarusian athletes from the 2024 Olympics.

On Friday, Estonia’s premier suggested her country might boycott the 2024 Olympics in Paris if Russian and Belarusian athletes are allowed to participate.

“Participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes is just wrong. So boycotting is a next step,” Prime Minister Kaja Kallas told reporters in Tallinn.

The IOC announced last week that athletes from the two countries, banned from competitions in Europe, might be allowed to earn slots for the Olympics by qualifying through Asian events. However, it later said it was standing by sanctions imposed against Russia and Belarus.

“Russia has killed hundreds of Ukrainian athletes including Olympic champions and world champions,” Kallas said alongside her counterparts from Latvia and Lithuania.

Calling out Moscow for using sport as a “propaganda tool”, Kallas added that there were soldiers among Russia’s athletes.

“When you’re looking at the Tokyo Olympic medallists, then 45 of them were actually members of the Russian army,” Kallas said.

She added, however, that efforts should be focused on convincing other states not to let Russians and Belarusians compete.

Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte echoed the view, telling reporters that boycotting “might not be as impressive as keeping Russian and Belarusian sportsmen out altogether”, which she called “the preferred option”.

Poland’s Sports Minister Kamil Bortniczuk told the Polish news agency PAP on Friday that boycotting the games would be “the strongest card and a last resort”.

Bortniczuk had earlier said he expected “a very firm stance” from a meeting planned on February 10 with representatives from 40 countries.

“I would give the IOC a chance for self-reflection without putting them against the wall of such strong alternatives just yet,” Bortniczuk told PAP.

Danish news agency Ritzau reported on Friday that Denmark was also opposed to Russian athletes participating in the Olympics.

“It is Denmark’s official position that we must not waver in relation to Russia,” the country’s Culture Minister Jakob Engel-Schmidt was quoted as saying. “The government’s line is clear. Russia must be banned from all international sports as long as their attacks on Ukraine continue.”

Published in Dawn, February 4th, 2023