Poland to build coalition to protest against IOC decision on Russian athletes

"Unfortunately, the top directors of the IOC have made the decision that Russian and Belarusian athletes can be seen as neutral. What does that mean? Without a state? What is this approach to the issue? That they could perform in these athletics competitions?" - Mateusz Morawiecki told a news conference.

"We here will protest very strongly against this, because it is a step towards getting used to and getting others used to this cruel war that Russia has started against Ukraine, and therefore also against the whole free world, he stressed.

"We will build a coalition of states to together demand that the IOC withdraw this bad and wrong decision," Poland's PM added.

"We certainly will not withdraw our athletes on our own, but we will try to build a coalition of countries. And that's what I instructed (Sports) Minister Bortniczuk to demand together with a strong voice from the IOC to withdraw this very wrong and bad decision," he said.

The IOC's decision was also criticised by Estonia. "I'm really, really disappointed," Culture Minister Piret Hartman told Reuters.

Hartman mentioned that around 30 countries have expressed their opposition to the participation of Russia and Belarus in the 2024 Summer Olympics. She also echoed Morawiecki's dismissal of the idea of athletes competing under a neutral flag.

But while the Polish PM said Poland would look to build a coalition of countries to form a potential boycott, Hartman said Estonia was not currently talking about a boycott and was continuing to work to have Russian and Belarusian athlete excluded from competitions.

"''This is something what the sport organisations decide and our Olympic committee. So we don't speculate right now with the boycott because of course we want that our sport people would have the peace to also prepare for the Olympic Games," Estonia's culture minister said.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) on Tuesday (March 28) issued recommendations for the gradual return to international competitions for Russian and Belarusian athletes as neutrals, with President Thomas Bach saying their participation "works" despite the war in Ukraine.