TASS, July 18. A decision on whether Russian and Belarusian athletes can compete in the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris will be made in September at the earliest, Tony Estanguet, president of the Paris 2024 Organizing Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games, said on Tuesday.

"I understood from the IOC (the International Olympic Committee - TASS) that that decision [on Russian and Belarusian athletes] will be made in September 2023 at the earliest," the Inside the Games portal quoted Estanguet as saying. "We will know more about this by the end of the summer."

"As far as the athletes for Paris 2024 are concerned, they need to take part in the qualifying events. As an Organizing Committee we will welcome the athletes that have been qualified and confirmed by the IOC and the IPC (the International Paralympic Committee - TASS). From the IPC side the implementation has not yet been set in stone. We are not responsible for this decision process," he added.

On February 28, 2022, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) recommended that international sports federations not allow Russian and Belarusian athletes to participate in international competitions due to the situation in Ukraine. In March of this year, the IOC Executive Board recommended that Russian and Belarusian athletes be allowed to compete but only as neutrals, and, moreover, only those who had not publicly expressed support for the special military operation in Ukraine and were not associated with the armed forces or national security agencies. Later, the IOC declined to invite Russians and Belarusians to the Olympic Games in Paris on the designated date of July 26.