ウクライナのボイコット呼びかけ、五輪の「原則」に違反　ＩＯＣ会長

【ローザンヌＡＦＰ＝時事】国際オリンピック委員会（ＩＯＣ）のトーマス・バッハ会長は９日、ロシアの２０２４年パリ五輪参加をめぐり大会のボイコットを訴えているウクライナ側に対し、五輪の「原則」に違反していると伝えた。（写真は五輪のシンボル）
　バッハ会長はウクライナ五輪委員会のワジム・フトツァイト会長に宛てた書簡で、ボイコットの脅しをするのは「オリンピックムーブメントの基本やわれわれが支持する原則に反する」と主張。ロシアとベラルーシの選手の参加は「まだ具体的な形で議論されていない」とした上で、ボイコットするように他国に「圧力をかける」ウクライナの動きは「非常に遺憾」だと述べた。
　また、ウクライナ側がＩＯＣについて「戦争と殺人、破壊を助長している」と非難したことについては、「中傷的な発言」だと指摘した。
　ＩＯＣは先月、ロシアとベラルーシの選手が中立の立場でパリ五輪に参加する「道筋」を検討していると発表した。これにウクライナ側は猛反発し、大会のボイコットを示唆。これまでに北欧や一部の東欧諸国もボイコットに参加すると表明している。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】

〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2023/02/10-15:04）

IOC president Thomas Bach has told Ukraine its calls to boycott the 2024 Paris Games over the possible participation of Russian competitors goes against Olympic principles as his organisation was accused of being on the wrong side of history.
In a letter to the Ukrainian National Olympic Committee revealed on Thursday, Bach said Ukraine's efforts in pressuring other countries to boycott the 2024 Games was extremely regrettable.
The International Olympic Committee said last month it was exploring a pathway to allow Russian and Belarusian competitors to take part in the Paris Olympics, under a neutral flag.
Ukraine has reacted furiously, threatening to pull out of the Games. Nordic and some eastern European countries have said they would join a boycott.
Threatening a boycott of the Olympic Games which, as you inform me, the NOC of Ukraine is currently considering, goes against the fundamentals of the Olympic Movement and the principles we stand for, Bach said in the letter to Ukraine's Olympic chief Vadym Goutzeit.
Bach said the participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes has not even been discussed in concrete terms yet.
Therefore, your letter at this premature stage to your fellow NOCs, to the International Federations, IOC Members and to future Olympic hosts, pressuring them in an attempt to publicly influence their decision-making, has been perceived by the vast majority of them as, at the very least, extremely regrettable, Bach added.
Bach also blasted what he described as defamatory statements made by some Ukraine officials who accused the IOC of being a promoter of war, murder and destruction.
Russia and its ally Belarus, which allowed its territory to be used as a launchpad when Moscow began its invasion of Ukraine last February, have been sidelined from most Olympic sports since the war began.
- Sports minister summit -
The publication of Bach's letter comes on the eve of a summit of sports ministers in London on Friday.
At the conference, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky is expected to denounce the potential participation of Russian athletes in the Paris Olympics.
Zelensky has called the plans to allow Russians to take part an attempt to tell the whole world that terror is somehow acceptable.
The IOC's proposed roadmap for athletes' return to action under a neutral flag, provided they had not actively supported the war in Ukraine, has caused deep divisions and heated debate.
Polish Sports Minister Kamil Bortniczuk said he expected around 40 countries to oppose the participation of Russians and Belarusians in the Paris Olympics at Friday's conference.
The United States, however, backs allowing athletes from Russia and Belarus to compete as neutrals while opposing the display of their national flags or emblems.
The controversy has not helped form a unified policy.
For example, Russian and Belarusian tennis players can compete at tour events and Grand Slams albeit not under their national flags.
However, Wimbledon last year imposed a blanket ban on players from the two nations taking part in arguably the sport's most prestigious Grand Slam event.
- 'Wrong side of history' -
Pressure group Global Athlete said Bach's response to Ukraine concerns shows the IOC continues to be on the wrong side of history.
Their letter is further evidence of the power Russia has over the organisation and the Olympic movement, the group said in a statement released Thursday.
Sponsors, host cities, and national governments must stop tolerating the IOC's kowtowing to Russia.
On Wednesday, the French government and the 2024 Olympic organisers sidestepped the row, a day after Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo called for a ban over the war in Ukraine.
Hidalgo echoed Zelensky who urged his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron to ban Russians from the Games.
French government spokesman Olivier Veran and Paris Organising Committee president Tony Estanguet said the decision was the responsibility of the IOC.
Veran told a press briefing that a decision must be taken by the summer by the IOC.
No position has been formally agreed with the IOC yet, he said. I will wait for international cooperation to take its course.
However, he did not rule out an exclusion, speaking of the steadfast wish of France that every possible sanction be applied fully and entirely.