MOSCOW, March 27. /TASS/. Russian archers will not take part in any qualifying events for the 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris, Vladimir Yesheyev, the president of the Russian Archery Federation (RAF), told TASS on Wednesday.
"Our athletes will not be participating in the Olympic qualifying tournaments," Yesheyev said. "There is no one on the team’s roster willing to compete without the national flag and the anthem. Moreover, many of our athletes represent CSKA and Dynamo sports schools."
"The Executive Board of World Archery earlier greenlighted the participation of athletes as neutrals, but the athletes themselves showed no interest in traveling to the Olympics [in France]," he added.
The RAF chief also said that in order to be granted a neutral status for the upcoming Olympics, Russian archery athletes would have to undergo an approval process, divulging all personal information showing that they comply with the admittance rules. The cost of this procedure for each individual athlete was 2,000 Swiss francs (over $2,205).
The 2024 Summer Olympic Games will be hosted by the French capital of Paris between July 26 and August 11.
On October 12, 2023, the IOC suspended the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) until further notice after the Russian organization included the Olympic councils of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics (DPR and LPR), the Zaporozhye and Kherson Regions as its members.
The Swiss-based CAS registered on November 6, 2023 an appeal from the ROC against the IOC’s decision on the Russian governing Olympic body’s suspension.
The suspension means that the ROC cannot act as a national Olympic committee or receive financing from the Olympic movement. The IOC however reserved the right to clear Russian athletes to take part in the Olympic Games in Paris in 2024 as neutrals. Later, IOC President Thomas Bach said that Russian athletes should have no affiliation with the ROC if they want to compete at the Olympic Games.
IOC sanctions against Russia
On February 28, 2022, the International Olympic Committee issued recommendations to international sports federations to bar athletes from Russia and Belarus from taking part in international tournaments, citing Moscow’s special military operation in Ukraine as the reason.
Following the IOC’s recommendations in late February 2022, the majority of global sports federations decided to bar athletes from Russia and Belarus from all international sports tournaments.
In late March, 2023, the IOC recommended to permit individual athletes from Russia and Belarus to take part in international sports tournaments, but only under certain conditions. Specifically, athletes from the two countries should not be "actively supporting" Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine and must compete under a neutral status. Russia and Belarus were also banned from participating in international team events.
On July 26, 2023, the IOC extended invitations to the 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris to 203 National Olympic Committees. Russia and Belarus did not receive invitations. The IOC explained later that there was no deadline regarding the issue of Russian and Belarusian athletes’ participation.