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From Games on five continents to digital change, IOC candidates unveil plans

Lausanne, Switzerland Reuters The seven candidates for the world’s most powerful job in global sport – the presidency of the International Olympic Committee – unveiled their plans and vision for the Games in a brief presentation to the IOC membership on Thursday. From a Games held simultaneously across five continents to the need for quick […]

Moldova warns athletes not to compete in Russia without permission

Chisinau Reuters Officials in Moldova, a fierce critic of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, pledged this week to crack down on athletes and cultural figures who have travelled to Russia to compete or perform without official permission. The warnings were issued after six athletes from the ex-Soviet state took part in the BRICS Games – a […]

Some Russians make the cut for Paris Olympics but others fail vetting process

Berlin, Germany Reuters The first batch of Russian and Belarusian athletes have been cleared to compete at next month’s Paris Olympics, with a total of 25 making the cut but others failing an International Olympic Committee vetting process over the war in Ukraine, the IOC said on Saturday. The IOC said that in some sports […]

A year before Paris Olympics, Ukraine torn over boycott threat

People walk past the countdown clock showing 366 days, one year to go until the Paris 2024 Olympic Games opening ceremony, near the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France, on 26th July, 2023.

Kyiv, Ukraine Reuters Kyiv could drop a threatened boycott of next year’s Paris Olympics if athletes from Russia and Belarus, allies in the war in Ukraine, compete under a neutral flag rather than their national colours, Ukraine’s sports minister told Reuters. Vadym Huttsait said there had been no decision to soften Ukraine’s stance but indicated […]

War has killed 262 Ukrainian athletes, sports minister says

Ukrainian servicemen lower to grave a coffin with the body of their brother-in-arms Volodymyr Androshchuk, who was recently killed in a fight against Russian troops near the Bakhmut town, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, during a funeral ceremony at a cemetery in the town of Letychiv, Khmelnytskyi region, Ukraine, on 1st February, 2023.

Reuters Russia’s war against Ukraine has claimed the lives of 262 Ukrainian athletes and destroyed 363 sports facilities, the country’s sports minister, Vadym Huttsait, said on Saturday. Meeting the visiting president of the International Federation of Gymnastics, Morinari Watanabe, Huttsait said no athletes from Russia should be allowed at the Olympics or other sports competitions. […]

Olympics row deepens as 35 countries demand ban for Russia and Belarus

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy attends an online meeting with sport ministers of 35 countries to discuss a ban of Russian and Belarusian athletes from the 2024 Olympics, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine February 10, 2023. Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Handout via REUTERS

Vilnius, Lithuania Reuters A group of 35 countries, including the United States, Germany and Australia, will demand that Russian and Belarusian athletes are banned from the 2024 Olympics, the Lithuanian sports minister said on Friday, deepening the uncertainty over the Paris Games. The move cranks up the pressure on an International Olympic Committee that is […]

Poland expects broad coalition to call for Olympics ban on Russian, Belarusian athletes

FILE PHOTO: Tokyo 2020 Olympics - The Tokyo 2020 Olympics Closing Ceremony - Olympic Stadium, Tokyo, Japan - August 8, 2021. General view of a big screen displaying the Paris 2024 Olympic logo during the closing ceremony REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov

Vilnius, Lithuania Reuters Poland believes it will be possible to build a coalition of some 40 countries, including the US, Britain and Canada, by 10th February supporting the call to block Russian and Belarusian athletes from the 2024 Olympics, a Polish minister said on Thursday. The Baltic nations and Poland earlier Thursday called on international […]

War takes heavy toll on Ukrainian sport

Ukraine sport1

Kyiv, Ukraine Reuters Young soccer players in the city of Kharkiv are grieving over the death of their coach, killed by a Russian shell last week in an incident that highlights the heavy toll the war is inflicting on all areas of Ukrainian society, including sport. “It hurt so much, it is as if I had […]

US lawmakers ask IOC for assurances uniforms not made through forced labour

China Beijing Olympic flag

Reuters The United States’ Congressional-Executive Commission on China released a letter to the International Olympic Committee on Wednesday voicing concern over forced labour in the production of uniforms ahead of the Beijing Games.  The CECC is concerned that Anta Sports and Hengyuanxiang Group, with which the IOC has contracts to produce uniforms, use cotton from […]

Olympics – Protests in Athens as Beijing prepares for Games flame

Greece Olympia Beijing Olympics torch ceremony rehearsal

Athens, Greece Reuters Greek police detained two human rights activists after they unfurled banners at the Athens Acropolis on Sunday opposing the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics as China’s Games organisers prepare to receive the Olympic flame. The activists staged a brief protest at the Acropolis in the Greek capital early in the morning, holding up […]