Palestinian athletes iimbitahan sa Paris Olympics
Up to eight Palestinian athletes will compete at the Paris Olympics, IOC President Thomas Bach told AFP / GABRIEL MONNET / AFP
Sinabi ng pinuno ng International Olympic Committee (IOC) na si Thomas Bach, na nasa pagitan ng anim hanggang walong Palestinian athletes ang inaasahang lalahok sa Paris Olympics, na ang ilan ay nakatakdang imbitahan ng IOC kahit pa mabigong mag-qualify ng mga ito.
Ayon kay Bach, ang qualification events para sa Paris Games, na nagsimula noong July 26, ay nagpapatuloy para sa ilang bilang ng sports.
Sa isang panayam sa IOC headquarters sa Lausanne, Switzerland ay sinabi nito, “But we have made the clear commitment that even if no (Palestinian) athlete would qualify on the field of play … then the NOC (National Olympic Committee) of Palestine would benefit from invitations, like other national Olympic Committees who do not have a qualified athlete.”
Aniya, “I expected the Palestinian delegation to number six to eight.”
Dagdag pa ni Bach, “The International Olympic Committee ‘from day one of the conflict’ in Gaza had ‘supported in many different ways the athletes’ to allow them to take part in qualifications and to continue their training.”
Binalewala naman niya ang mga suhestiyon na iba ang trato ng IOC sa Russia dahil sa pananakop nito sa Ukraine kumpara sa Israel at sa giyera nito sa Gaza.
Ang Russia ay sinuspinde sa maraming international sports makaraan ang pananakop nito, at ang kanilang mga atleta ay binawalang sumali sa kompetisyon sa ilalim ng kanilang national flag sa Paris 2024.
Upang makalahok sa Paris Games, binawalan din sila na lantarang suportahan ang giyera laban sa Ukraine at maging bahagi ng military o security services.
Ang mga sanction sa Russia ay resulta ng paglabag ng Moscow sa “Olympic truce” nang salakayin nila ang Ukraine pagkatapos na pagkatapos ng Winter Olympics sa Beijing noong 2022, at sa pananakop sa Ukrainian sports organisations.
Ayon kay Bach, “The situation between Israel and Palestine is completely different. I had been even-handed in my public statements on Ukraine, the Hamas attack on Israel and the ‘horrifying consequences’ of the war in Gaza.”
Aniya, “From day one, we expressed how horrified we were, first on the seventh of October and then about the war and its horrifying consequences. We have always been very clear as we have been with the Russian invasion in Ukraine.”
