Portuguese Olympic Committee supports the reintegration of Russian and Belarusian athletes
The president of the Portuguese Olympic Committee (COP) said this Friday in favor of the reintegration of Russian and Belarusian athletes into international competitions, in line with the guidelines taken by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), which wants to “explore” ways to the do.
“I think so. The IOC position is the most reasonable.
The president of the COP defends that “sport should send a message for the parties to understand each other, it should not support one party against the other”, at a time when attendance at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games is being debated.
“Sport should be a factor of pacification and rapprochement between the opposing parties. And you can see what is happening…”, he evaluated.
Constantino recalls that “it is part of the history” of sport to give signals that lead to “approximation and pacification of the relations of the parties in conflict”, regardless of whether countries and governments “understand this or not”.
The fact that Ukraine admits to boycotting Paris2024 in the event of the reintegration of Russians and Belarusians and that several countries have already demonstrated their opposition to the IOC’s opening guidelines, including the United Kingdom and Denmark, which criticize the IOC president’s change of heart , Thomas Bach, was assumed by the Portuguese leader as normal, “since there have been similar situations in the past” at the biggest event on the planet.
Constantino reveals that the issue was never reached between the COP and the Portuguese Government, ensuring a “completely autonomous and independent position” of the body he directs, with its course being “aligned” by sports organizations.
“There is a sign of openness from the IOC and the developments are still difficult to define, predict, namely what will be the reaction of many countries that, perhaps, will try to condition the positioning of their national Olympic committees”, he exclaimed.
José Manuel Constantino advocates that it is better to “guard for new developments” regarding the IOC signals, assuming that at this moment “it is premature to close any scenario, as all are open”.
The mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, is in tune with the IOC, while the president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensnki, informs his French counterpart that he bans the presence of athletes from countries complicit in the military aggression, which began on February 24, 2022 .
The Paris2024 organizing committee has no decision-making power and the IOC noted on Wednesday that the “sole authority” in the matter rests with the international federations.