Berlin, 20 March 2024 (dpa/MIA) - Russian and Belarusian athletes allowed to compete at the Paris Olympics are barred from the parade of nations at the opening ceremony, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said on Tuesday.

IOC director James McLeod said the decision was taken by the executive board because they will be at the Games as independent neutral athletes and not representatives of their nations.

But he said the Russians and Belarusians would be given the opportunity to "experience the event" on July 26 on site.

McLeod said a decision on their participation at the August 11 closing ceremony would come at a later stage.

The opening ceremony will not be in a stadium and the parade of athletes will take place on boats on the River Seine.

Russian and Belarusian athletes were banned from international sports events since the start of Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

But the IOC is now allowing them to compete under strict criteria, only as neutrals in individual sports, with a special flag and anthem instead of national symbols - if they don't support the war and have no affiliation with Russia's military and other security forces.

Their final participation will depend on a three strong IOC review panel chaired by IOC vice president Nicole Hoevertsz which will look into every individual athlete and their support personnel.

McLeod said that so far 12 Russians and 7 Belarusians have qualified for the Games, and that it was likely 36 Russian and 22 Belarusians would qualify, pending the review.

The last Games 2021 in Tokyo had 330 Russian and 104 Belarusian athletes.

McLeod also said that it would be up to the executive board to decide on possible sanctions for athletes who participate at planned Friendship Games in Russia.

The statement came after the IOC earlier Tuesday accused Russia of a "cynical attempt to politicise sport" through this event and called on all of its stakeholders not to participate in and support it, a measure McLeod named "a point of caution around politicised events."

The Friendship Games are planned to be held a as summer edition, in September after the Paris Olympics, in Moscow and Ekaterinenburg, and as a winter edition 2026 in Sochi, in an apparant move by Russia to give its athletes international competition.

The IOC said that Russia was acting "contrary to the Fundamental Principles of the Olympic Charter and the resolutions by the UN General Assembly" and had launched "a very intensive diplomatic offensive" to lure participants.

"To make their purely political motivation even more obvious, they are deliberately circumventing the sports organisations in their target countries," the IOC said.

"It is a cynical attempt by the Russian Federation to politicise sport."

The IOC said its Athletes’ Commission "sees the risk of athletes being forced by their governments into participating in such a fully politicised sports event, thereby being exploited as part of a political propaganda campaign.

"The Olympic Movement strongly condemns any initiative to fully politicise sport, in particular the establishment of fully politicised sports events by the Russian government," the IOC said.

"The IOC strongly urges all stakeholders of the Olympic Movement and all governments to reject any participation in, and support of, any initiative that intends to fully politicise international sport."

Russian state news agency TASS quoted Friendship Games organizers as saying that "we are disappointed to see such statements from the
International Olympic Committee.

"In our opinion, this stance is unconstructive and is not aimed at the development of sports."

Photo: X