Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo stated on Saturday Russian and Belarusian athletes “were not welcome” on the Olympics being staged within the French capital this 12 months.
“I want to tell Russian and Belarusian athletes that they are not welcome in Paris and to tell Ukrainian athletes and all the Ukrainian people that we support them very strongly,” Hidalgo stated in a video posted by Ukrainian YouTube channel, United News.
Hidalgo made her feedback on a visit to Kyiv the place she visited a coaching centre for Ukrainian athletes.
Russian athletes can compete within the Paris Olympics, which run from July 26 till August 11 however solely as neutrals.
Russia and Belarus have been banned from collaborating within the opening ceremony which can be staged on the River Seine within the coronary heart of the town.
In response, Moscow launched a livid tirade on the International Olympic Committee, arguing the IOC’s restrictions on Russian athletes amounted to “neo-Nazism”.
The IOC suspended Russia from the 2024 Games final 12 months, however gave the inexperienced mild for its athletes to compete as neutrals so long as they didn’t actively assist the Kremlin’s assault on Ukraine
Source: www.anews.com.tr
