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An official request has been made to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) by the National Olympic Committee of Ukraine to look into the possibility of Russian and Belarusian athletes competing in the forthcoming Olympics in Paris.
The proposal is made in response to claims that athletes with passports from Belarus and Russia have violated their neutrality.
The National Olympic Committee of Ukraine’s president, Vadym Huttsait, wrote to IOC president Thomas Bach to voice concerns regarding some athletes’ compliance with the IOC Recommended Conditions of Participation. The letter focuses on athletes who are neutral individual athletes (AINs) and compete in the sport of wrestling.
The controversy stems from the IOC’s December decision that athletes from Belarus and Russia who make it to the Paris Olympics may compete in individual sports as neutrals. To emphasise a neutral posture, these athletes would not be permitted to fly their national flags, emblems, or anthems.