The issue of admitting domestic athletes to the Olympic Games in Paris remains one of the most important for the organizers.
The IOC can put an end to this topic and give final clarifications on the invitation criteria at the next executive committee of the organization on March 18-19.
At the same time, French President Emmanuel Macron said that the host party in this case is obliged to obey the IOC verdict.
“We are the organizer of the Olympic Games.
The rule of the host country is to keep pace with the Olympic movement.
That is, this is a signal of peace.
We also follow the regulations of the International Olympic Committee.
This authority decided that Russia as a state cannot take part in the Games, but athletes can compete under the white flag,” the French President told Ukrainian journalists.
During the conversation, he was also asked to demand that Russia cease fire during the Olympic Games.
And Macron briefly promised to “ask for it.”
He was not the first French politician to speak out about domestic athletes several months before the Olympics.
Thus, the mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, previously stated that it would be better if they, along with the Belarusians, did not come at all.
Answering a question from journalists, Russian President Vladimir Putin noted that he did not know about the statement of the head of France, but expressed a desire to consider any issues if they meet the interests of the Russian Federation.
“I said all the time and I will repeat again: we are for peace negotiations, but not because the enemy is running out of ammunition.
And if they really, seriously, in the long term want to build peaceful, good neighborly relations between the two states.
And don’t take a pause for rearmament for one and a half to two years,” Putin emphasized during the press approach.
At the same time, the president noted that at the moment the foundations of international sports are actually being undermined.
“As for the Olympic Games, international officials are distorting the whole meaning of the Olympic movement, Olympism,” Putin added.
In general, in Russia, Macron’s idea of a ceasefire for the duration of the Olympics caused a mostly negative reaction.
The official representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Maria Zakharova, made a counter-proposal: to stop the supply of weapons and sponsorship of terrorism.
In addition, she is sure that it would be useful to put forward a similar demand to the participants in the conflict in the Middle East.
“A lot probably depends on what France says,” Zakharova suggested in an interview with Match TV.
The State Duma believes that Macron simply made a populist statement to once again remind himself.
This point of view is shared by the chairman of the Committee on Physical Culture and Sports, Dmitry Svishchev.
“This is another populist trick.
Yesterday, the Mayor of Paris said that she would be happy if the Russians were not allowed to participate in the Games.
Today Macron proposes a truce for the duration of the Olympics.
He no longer knows which throw-ins to launch.
Some kind of inadequate politician.
Again he is trying to involve politics in sports.
I don’t think these are serious statements,” Sport-Express quotes the deputy.
Three-time Olympic figure skating champion Irina Rodnina completely agreed with him.
“I suddenly remembered about the Olympic Games.
It seems to me that this person simply wants to remind about himself once again.
Either he wants us to get weapons, then he wants to send troops into Russia, now he wants to stop the fire.
In a word, he’s a populist,” she complained.
Another deputy, Nikolai Valuev, is confident: Macron is now obliged to take the next steps and offer Ukraine and Israel to suspend hostilities during the Olympics.
And Svetlana Zhurova sees the particular absurdity of the situation in the fact that the French President himself recently called for sending troops to Ukraine.
“His proposal sounds very ridiculous when our athletes were not allowed to participate in this Olympics.
It comes out a little strange, no?
Why should we respond to the call of a man who just a couple of weeks ago called for the deployment of troops from a third country to the front?
It all looks somehow hypocritical and strange.
Why can’t Macron address this request to the Ukrainians?
This Macron is very strange, his words really contradict each other,” Zhurova noted in an interview with Sport24.
In domestic federations for various types, they chose not to react to this idea at all.
For example, the head of the Ski Racing Federation (FLGR), Elena Vyalbe, admitted that she was simply not interested in what the French President was talking about.
And the senior coach of the national artistic gymnastics team, Valentina Rodionenko, considers it right to completely move the Olympics to another place.
“A country whose president allows the possibility of sending its troops into the territory of a foreign state to fight against Russia does not have the right to conduct Olympic Games.
Unfortunately, there is little time left before the Games, and no one will move them anywhere.
But it’s very sad when a leader makes such statements,” the specialist noted.
Some domestic athletes also spoke out.
For example, the famous chess player Sergei Karyakin considered the proposal of the French side to be absolute cynicism and manipulation.
“This is extreme cynicism.
When they started having problems at the front, they are trying to use any pretext to persuade us to negotiate peacefully.
I am sure that if Russia did not have the initiative now, such proposals would not have been received,” Karyakin emphasized.
And honored figure skating coach Tatyana Tarasova advised Macron to better allow Russians to participate in the Games.
“He needs to think in a different direction - how to invite all Russian athletes.
Our non-participation in the Olympics is illogical.
When the strongest athletes, who have always graced the Olympic Games with their presence, are suspended, this is not normal.
Rare idiocy,” the specialist summed up.