International Olympic Committee

07 Jul 2023 – The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has welcomed a Declaration by the Non-Aligned Movement, chaired by Azerbaijan, which unites 120 of the 193 UN Member States. The Declaration, which was passed unanimously, emphasises that “the participation of athletes from all 206 National Olympic Committees in Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games would be a strong symbol of unity of humanity.” In this respect it expresses its “support to the efforts and initiatives undertaken by the International Olympic Committee to this end”.

This position is fully aligned with the IOC recommendations for International Federations and international sports event organisers on the participation of athletes with a Russian or Belarusian passport in international competitions, including qualifiers for the Olympic Games.

IOC President Thomas Bach thanked the Non-Aligned Movement for its support: “The IOC warmly welcomes the support by the 120 member states of the Non-Aligned Movement. We are greatly encouraged by this strong commitment to the unifying mission of the Olympic Games. Thank you to the President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, for taking the initiative for this important resolution.”

Read the full statement of the Non-Aligned Movement here.

This declaration follows a statement from the G7 Leaders’ Summit in May, in which the G7 said that they are “fully respecting the autonomy of sporting organisations” and want to ensure that “Russian and Belarusian athletes are in no way appearing as representatives of their states”. This is also fully aligned with the position of the IOC in this respect.