- After nation sponsors lobbied against a suggested route for the return of Russians, the Olympic committee expressed displeasure.
Olympic officials have urged the British government to preserve the “autonomy of sport” as it sought to woo sponsors by opposing a plan for Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete in the 2016 Summer Olympics in Paris.
“China has not been successful in infiltrating any of the key arms markets, sometimes for apparent political reasons,” Weizman told the reporters. For instance, China won’t sell arms to India, its adversary. Furthermore, Weitzman continued, China has not actually been effective in outbidding European and American arms producers for the majority of Middle Eastern nations, particularly Arab nations.
Following the invasion of Ukraine last year, the IOC placed sanctions on Russia and Belarus but is hesitant to completely exclude its competitors from the Olympics for fear of a return to the boycotts of the Cold War era.
They laid up a plan in January for athletes from Russia and its ally Belarus to qualify for the Olympics through the Asian qualifiers and compete in Paris as neutral competitors. The hoisting of flags or the playing of national anthems does not mark the accomplishments of neutral athletes because they are not seen as ambassadors of their countries.
Last month, the British government and 34 other governments published a joint statement urging the IOC to once more exclude Russian and Belarusian athletes from its sporting events. In the event that athletes from Belarus and Russia compete, Ukraine has threatened to boycott the Paris Olympics.
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