PARIS (AFP) - Africa’s National Olympic Committees have followed their Asian counterparts in giving the green light on Saturday for Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Russia and its ally Belarus have been sidelined from most Olympic sports since Russia-Ukraine war last February.
However, in January the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said it was seeking a “pathway” for Russians to take part in the Games.
Following that announcement, the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) offered athletes from both countries the chance to compete in this year’s Asian Games.
That was a significant move because they could gain qualifying marks in competition in Asia to allow them to compete in Paris.
Africa has now followed suit.
The motion -- to allow Russians and Belarusians to compete under a neutral flag -- was passed unanimously by the executive committee of the Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa (ANOCA) at their meeting in Nouakchott, Mauritania.
It said ANOCA president, the Algerian Mustapha Berraf, had reiterated that the body “aligns itself with the position of the International Olympic Committee and its President Dr. Thomas Bach”.
The statement continued: “It will thus be a question of allowing Russian and Belarusian athletes to participate in complete neutrality without any sign of identity in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.”