Among the signatories of the common position are 24 countries of the European Union, as well as the United States, Australia, Great Britain, Canada, New Zealand, Ukraine, South Korea, Japan, Norway, Iceland, Albania and Liechtenstein.
Below is the full text of the statement.
“We, Ministers and equivalent senior officials responsible for sport in our like-minded countries, have drawn attention to the recommended conditions for the participation of individual neutral players and support staff, holders of Russian or Belarusian passports, to international sports competitions, and to the attached press release issued by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on 28 March 2023 We reiterate our view that the Russian government, which has twice violated the rules of the ceasefire -Olympic fire, should not be allowed to use sport to legitimize its barbaric and unprovoked action against Ukraine, and the Belarusian government should not be allowed to use sport to legitimize its complicity in the war of aggression of the Russia.
With respect to the IOC’s recommendations, we fully believe that while it has addressed some aspects of the serious concerns raised in our joint statement of February 21, 2023, there remain important issues that have not been clarified, including regarding athletes’ ties to the military, state funding and other forms of official support for players and support staff, a definition of what teams are and mechanisms to enforce the proposed solutions.
We reiterate that our position does not discriminate against people on the basis of their passport and that we respect the right of all athletes to be treated in a non-discriminatory manner, in accordance with the Olympic Charter. Our goal is fair sports competition and to ensure that Russian and Belarusian athletes do not act as representatives of their countries in any way, which the IOC also tries to guarantee through its recommendations.
Respecting the autonomy of sports organisations, we will closely monitor the implementation of the recommendations by the IOC and international sports federations in the coming weeks. If these issues are not resolved, we will expect the IOC to reconsider its approach.”
