On 18 July, MEPs of the CULT Committee organised a structured dialogue with Margaritis Schinas, Vice-President of the European Commission, who covers the sport portfolio currently MEP Tomasz Frankowski (EPP) raised questions concerning the EU Commission’s position on the exclusion of the Russian Federation and Belarus at the Olympic Games Paris 2024 and the proposal formulated by the expert committee of the Czech Olympic Committee to introduce a statutory declaration which Russian and Belarussian athletes must sign to participate in the Olympic Games.
After recalling that the EU Commission fully respects the autonomy and functioning of international sports organisations, Vice-President Schinas stated that the EU should not tolerate any opportunities for political propaganda that might be offered to regimes responsible for wars of aggression as well as the importance of ensuring a process for verifying the neutrality of these athletes. Yet, the process and definition of the parameters of participation are to be discussed by the International Olympic Committee and relevant sport stakeholders still.