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IOC says vetting of Russian athletes far from completion

Spokesman Mark Adams said he could not give any deadlines for the proces

MOSCOW, June 12. /TASS/. The process of verifying the neutral status of athletes from Russia and Belarus, who are preparing to participate in the 2024 Paris Olympics, continues and is far from completion, IOC Spokesman Mark Adams told reporters on Wednesday.

"That wasn’t discussed today. The vetting process is ongoing, still some way to go, but my understanding is that we are quite a way through, but still a long way to go," he said. "The actual vetting process wasn’t discussed, though."

He said he could not give any deadlines for the process.

The 2024 Summer Olympic Games will be hosted by the French capital of Paris between July 26 and August 11.

The International Olympic Committee Executive Board convened for a meeting at the Olympic House in Lausanne, Switzerland, on March 19-20 and following the opening day it decided to bar athletes from Russia and Belarus from taking part in the Parade of Athletes and also exclude them from the 2024 Olympics overall medal standings. The IOC, however, ruled that Russian athletes, cleared to participate in the upcoming Olympics, would not have to sign anything denouncing their country’s special military operation in Ukraine.

According to the IOC statement on the upcoming Olympics in France: "Individual Neutral Athletes (AINs) with a Russian or Belarusian passport and their personnel may take part in the Olympic Games in Paris in 2024 only in an individual and neutral capacity, and not in any way as representatives of the Russian Federation or the Republic of Belarus, or any other organization in their country, including their National Olympic Committee (NOC) or National Federation (NF).".

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