Wladimir Klitschko hits out at IOC president Thomas Bach
‘Thomas Bach serves Russia’s colors and interests’: Wladimir Klitschko blasts IOC chief who insists Russian and Belarusian athletes should be allowed to compete in Olympics as individuals amid ongoing conflict in Ukraine
- Thomas Bach said that athletes should be able to compete as individuals next year
- The IOC’s final decision on the matter before Paris 2024 has yet to be made.
- Ukrainian Wladimir Klitschko took to social media to criticize Bach’s plans
Wladimir Klitschko has accused Olympic boss Thomas Bach of serving “the colors and interests of Russia.”
The International Olympic Committee on Tuesday reaffirmed its position that Russian and Belarusian athletes should be allowed to compete in international sport under a neutral flag despite the war in Ukraine.
IOC President Bach insisted that a final decision on his actual participation in Paris 2024 has not yet been made and that it will be taken at the “appropriate time”.
But former Ukrainian boxer Klitschko, who won Olympic super heavyweight gold at Atlanta 1996, tweeted: “The IOC authorizes Russian and Belarusian athletes to participate in the Olympic Games under a ‘neutral flag’. This decision is a false flag.
‘Thomas Bach serves the colors and interests of Russia. This decision contaminates the Olympic spirit and is like this war: nonsense.
IOC chief Thomas Bach said athletes should only compete individually at the Paris Olympics.
Former Ukrainian boxer Wladimir Klitschko accused Bach of ‘serving the colors of Russia’
The IOC said its recommendation only extends to individual athletes, not teams, and that anyone who actively supports the war in Ukraine is barred from competing.
But Bach added: ‘The participation of athletes with Russian and Belarusian passports in international competitions works.
āWe see this almost every day in various sports.
‘We will not be able to reach a solution that pleases everyone. With this we may have to live.