Media: Some 30 countries call on the IOC to suspend Russians and Belarusians from the 2024 Olympics

Politico has published the text of an appeal to the IOC:

Until these fundamental issues and the significant lack of clarity and concrete details regarding the validity of the "neutrality" model are resolved, we do not agree that Russian and Belarusian athletes should be allowed to compete.

In the letter, some 30 countries highlighted the links between sport and the military in Russia and Belarus:

In Russia and Belarus, sport and politics are closely intertwined. There is no practical reason to depart from the exclusion regime for Russian and Belarusian athletes established by the IOC in its statement of 28 February 2022.

We have serious doubts as to whether it is realistic for Russian and Belarusian Olympic athletes to compete under a neutral flag - under the IOC's condition of no identification with their country - when they are directly funded and supported by their governments, unlike, for example, professional tennis players.

The strong links and affiliations of Russian athletes with the Russian military are also a clear concern.

Therefore, our collective approach has never been to discriminate only on the basis of nationality, but these serious concerns should be taken into account by the IOC.

Signatories to the letter include: Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, South Korea, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Sweden.