In their appeal, the heads of the NOCs of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia expressed disapproval, disappointment and non-support for the decision of the governing Olympic body to allow "neutral" athletes to participate in the 2024 Olympics. This was reported by the Committee on Youth and Sports.
The Baltic Olympic Committees also called on the IOC to provide a clear description of the procedure that will be used to determine whether athletes meet the criteria of neutrality.
"With this letter, the National Olympic Committees of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania express their disapproval and opposition to the decision of the IOC Executive Board to allow neutral athletes with russian or belarusian passports to compete in the Paris Olympics in 2024.
We are convinced that this decision is unacceptable as long as the war in Ukraine is ongoing, during which civilians are suffering from war crimes committed by russia and supported by belarus. Together, we mourn the more than 350 Ukrainian athletes who have been killed during the invasion. We are also working to support those who have been left without the critical infrastructure needed to prepare for the Olympic Games in Paris.
We understand that not all National Olympic Committees share the same opinion and that their opinions differ from ours, which is why this decision was made. However, in this case, we believe it is necessary to emphasise the importance of a competent, transparent, accountable, fair and understandable procedure for the implementation of decisions. This is to preserve the credibility of those who made the decision and those organisations or individuals who will have to implement it.
Therefore, we call on the IOC to provide National Olympic Committees and the general public with a technical description or detailed description of the procedure that will be used to determine whether athletes meet the criteria for neutral athletes as soon as possible," the statement reads.
We thank Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia for their support.
Together to Victory.