New Delhi, March 15: The Mayor of Paris, which is hosting the Summer Olympic Games from July 26 this year, said on Wednesday she wanted to keep the Russian athletes out of the mega-event.
“I would prefer them not to come. I think (Russian President) Vladimir Putin is a dictator who threatens Europe as a whole and is waging war against Ukraine, denying them their right to exist as a people and as a nation.”
“It will be very, very difficult to see, even under the neutral flag, because we know how much emphasis Putin puts on Russian athletes,” Anne Hidalgo was quoted as saying in the media.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has also made it clear that Russian athletes can compete as individual neutral athletes but those Russian athletes who support the war in Ukraine will not be allowed to compete.
About Israel fighting against the Palestinians, Hidalgo said the Jewish state is a democracy, unlike Russia, and should be welcomed. After the October 7 attack on Israel by the Hamas terrorists, “Sanctioning Israel concerning the Olympic and Paralympic Games is out of the question because Israel is a democracy,” Hidalgo said.