The Opening Ceremony of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at the Olympic Stadium, Tokyo, Japan, Friday 23 July 2021. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Russians and Belarusians will not take part in the parade of athletes at the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympics in July, the International Olympic Committee said on Tuesday.
The athletes from these countries who qualify for the Games will be competing as independent athletes without their flags and anthems following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
They will compete as individual neutral athletes under a specially created flag and with an anthem without lyrics, the IOC said.
"They will not participate in the parade of delegations during the opening ceremony, since they are individual athletes," the IOC said following an executive board meeting.
"But an opportunity will be provided for them to experience the event."
IOC director James McLeod said they would be experiencing the opening ceremony but not be taking part in the parade of team with boats along the river Seine.
The IOC also said those athletes who qualify will be vetted by a three-member IOC panel in order to meet the eligibility criteria that the Olympic body established for Russians and Belarusians.
Athletes who actively support the war, which Moscow calls a "special military operation", or are contracted to the military or security agencies will not be allowed to take part.
The IOC said it expected an estimated 36 Russian and 22 Belarusian athletes to make the cut for Paris, compared to the Russian team of 330 at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. Belarus had a team of 104 at those Games.
-Reuters