United Kingdom: The International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) proposals to allow Russian and Belarussian athletes to compete once more in international sport and at the Paris 2024 Games have come under fire from the government, which has written to the Olympic Games’ largest sponsors pleading with them to exert pressure on the IOC.

The UK chief executives of the IOC’s international partners, including Coca-Cola, Intel, Samsung, and Visa, have also been requested by the culture secretary, Ms. Lucy Frazer, to press the IOC on a number of important concerns it has on the prospective relaxation of the ban.

The IOC is still looking for a way to enable these athletes to compete as “neutral” competitors, such as having them qualify for the Paris Olympics in Asia rather than Europe. Nonetheless, the UK and 34 other nations continue to hold that Russia and Belarus should not return until Mr. Vladimir Putin ends his illegal war because the situation in Ukraine has gotten worse since the IOC’s initial decision to impose a suspension last February.

Russian and Belarusian athletes are directly funded and supported by their states, therefore the countries’ severe worries about their ability to compete on a neutral footing were stated in a statement last month. Concerns were also expressed regarding the close ties and connections between Russian athletes and the Russian military.

The letter was sent one day after Russia conducted its most significant missile attack in recent weeks on Ukrainian cities. Ukraine’s president, Mr. Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has also reaffirmed his call for a ban, saying that Russia’s attendance at next year’s Olympics would be a “manifestation of violence.”

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