Czechia will not boycott Paris Olympic Games

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Czech Olympic Committee and the National Sports Agency have all agreed that Czechia will not boycott next year’s Summer Olympic Games in Paris if Russian and Belurusian athletes end up taking part in the event, the Czech News Agency reported on Friday.

However, if Russia’s aggression against Ukraine continues, Russian and Belarusian athletes should not be able to take part in next year’s Olympic Games, the Chairman of Czechia’s National Sports Agency Ondřej Šebek told Czech Radio. The statement was made in an interview ahead of an online meeting of EU sports ministers on Friday, where Mr. Šebek is representing Czechia.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has not yet ruled out the possibility that Russian and Belarusian athletes could take part in the Olympics. Mr. Šebek said that this has caused surprise as it was the IOC that was one of the first to call for the non-participation of Russian athletes.