The German Olympic Sports Confederation is still undecided whether it will approve the participation of athletes from Russia and Belarus in the 2024 Summer Olympics. The National Olympic Committees of Africa are already one step further - and are making their decision in line with the IOC.
At a meeting of the Executive Committee in Nouakchott/Mauritania, the National Olympic Committees of Africa (ANOCA) spoke out in favor of the participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes in the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Paris. ANOCA announced this in a statement. "This is intended to enable Russian and Belarusian athletes to take part in the Olympic Games in Paris 2024 neutrally and without any signs of identity," it said.
With this, ANOCA adapts to the position of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Asian Olympic Council (AOC). At the end of January, he had suggested including Russian and Belarusian athletes in his regional competitions, such as the Asian Games.
The German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB) is "still in a discussion process with the Presidium, all member associations, all so-called stakeholders" on the Russia question, as President Thomas Weikert explained on Wednesday. The German umbrella organization has already expressed itself "to the IOC," said Weikert.
One of the decisive criteria is "no national symbols" and the anti-doping fight is "very important for us," said the DOSB President. "There are many doping controls in Russia, but we don't know how they end and how they are controlled." The National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) is also "very skeptical". Nevertheless, the DOSB, like the International Olympic Committee (IOC), opened the door for reintegration.
"The essence of sport is to build bridges, the mission of the Olympic movement is to bring people together in peaceful competition," said DOSB CEO Torsten Burmester on Tuesday, but pointed out that a return was still too early and this would only be possible if the Russian athletes were "genuinely neutral".
