According to the former head of the World Anti-Doping Agency Craig Reedie, Russia’s participation in the upcoming Paris 2024 Olympics is in doubt and currently the “$64,000 question.”
“I’m afraid a decision is going to have to be taken on what happens to each of these two countries. And my guess is that the general feeling would be that they should not qualify.”
“I think most people are struggling with how we could achieve some degree of representation. At the moment, there is no clear way to do it. Therefore, you maintain the status quo.”
In February, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) issued a recommendation to international sports organizations asking them to remove Russian and Belarus athletes from competitions due to the Russian troops in Ukraine.
Many of the international federations adhered to the IOC recommendation.
IOC President Thomas Bach has described the sidelining of Russian and Belarusian athletes as “protective measures”, to protect the athletes safety due to “the deep anti-Russian and anti-Belarusian feelings in so many countries following the invasion.”
More than four months later, Reedie said the majority of the members of the IOC still agree with the ban on Russian and Belarus athletes. Some exceptions have been made, such as tennis, cycling, and judo.
“However, the problem now comes that roughly two years before the Paris 2024 Games, the qualifying period starts as set by the international federations and the IOC,” he said. “So there’s a real issue for the federations, who have a clear instruction which they’ve agreed to that they won’t invite Russians and Belarusians to take part in events.
“Therefore, on the face of it, it’s unlikely that anybody would qualify other than in those three sports which don’t do it that way. And will they be able to qualify? I’m not sure.”
“It’s quite difficult halfway through to say ‘all of you who have now qualified, we’ve changed the rules’.”