France has joined an array of countries campaigning to keep Russian and Belarusian athletes from competing in international sporting events - including the 2024 summer Olympic Games in Paris - because of Russia's ongoing war in Ukraine.
French Sports Minister Amélie Oudéa-Castéra signed a joint statement, along with politicians from countries including the United States, Germany, Italy and Japan, against the the International Olympic Committee (IOC) suggestion last month to find ways to allow athletes from the countries to appear under a neutral flag.
"We have strong concerns on how feasible it is for Russian and Belarusian Olympic athletes to compete as ‘neutrals’ – under the IOC’s conditions of no identification with their country – when they are directly funded and supported by their states (unlike, for example, professional tennis players)," said the statement.
The statement also said the IOC is vague about how it defines neutrality, and as that remains the case, "we do not agree that Russian and Belarusian athletes should be allowed back into competition."
More than 30 nations have said they do not want the competitors at sporting events so long as Russia - and its ally Belarus - continues its war in Ukraine.
Military links
"The strong links and affiliations between Russian athletes and the Russian military are also of clear concern," the statement said, adding that the issue should be addressed by the IOC.
After the IOC outlined its plans, Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelensky accused the IOC of losing its honesty and said his country would boycott the Games if the conflict were still underway in 2024 and the Russian and Belarusian athletes were allowed to take part.
Latvia's Olympic committee said it would also boycott the event.
IOC president Thomas Bach has warned the Ukrainian Sports Minister and the country's National Olympic Committee boss Vadym Guttsait that a boycott of the Games would be a violation of the Olympic Charter.
