Ukraine must consider whether taking part in next year's Paris Olympics is in the nation's interests but participation is impossible unless the IOC alters its "non-constructive position," Ukraine's sports minister said on Saturday. Matviy Bidnyi, Ukraine's minister of youth and sport, was speaking on national television a day after the International Olympic Committee said Russian and Belarusian athletes could compete in Paris as neutrals without flags, emblems or anthems. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba on Friday condemned the IOC decision as "shameful". Russia's Sports Minister, Oleg Matytsin, called the conditions set by the IOC for Russian athletes' participation at the Olympics "discriminatory." Bidnyi said Ukraine could work towards participating if leaders came to the conclusion that it would "promote our position to the world".

Source: The Express Tribune December 11, 2023 11:49 UTC