French President Macron: ‘There can’t, clearly, be a Russian flag on the Paris Games’

PARIS — French President Emmanuel Macron stated the Russian flag has no place at subsequent 12 months’s Paris Olympics due to the struggle crimes dedicated by Vladimir Putin’s regime in Ukraine.

Russia has not been allowed to fly its flag on the Olympics for the reason that 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games. Since then, Russians have been competing on the Summer and Winter Olympics underneath numerous names due to doping points.

In an interview with L’Equipe newspaper revealed Thursday, Macron stated he didn’t need them to fly their flag in Paris due to the struggle in Ukraine.

“Russia, as a country, has no place at a time when it has committed war crimes and deported children,” Macron stated.

The interview was revealed a day after a Russian missile tore via an outside market in jap Ukraine, killing 17 individuals and wounding dozens.

The IOC has inspired governing our bodies of particular person sports to permit Russians and Belarusians to compete as “neutral athletes” with out nationwide symbols or flags in Olympic qualifying occasions.

The governing our bodies of most Olympic sports have both adopted the IOC coverage already or are engaged on plans to take action. The IOC nonetheless recommends barring Russia and Belarus from group sports and excluding athletes who’re contracted to the navy or safety forces.

“There can’t, obviously, be a Russian flag at the Paris Games, I think there’s a consensus on that,” Macron stated.

Asked whether or not he favors the presence of Russian athletes, Macron stated the difficulty “should not be politicized.”

“I want the Olympic world to make a conscious decision, and I have every confidence in (IOC president) Thomas Bach,” he stated.

Macron acknowledged that as president of France he has a say within the matter, “but within the framework of a dialogue.”

France might refuse to difficulty visas to Russian athletes, coaches and officers, as some European international locations have executed for sporting occasions they’ve hosted for the reason that invasion began.

“The real question that the Olympic world will have to decide is what place to give to these Russian athletes, who have sometimes prepared their whole lives and may also be victims of this regime,” Macron stated. “Some may fight it, even in their public statements.”