Ukraine Legend Wladimir Klitschko Slams IOC on Russia, Belarus

Ukrainian boxing legend Wladimir Klitschko on Wednesday slammed the International Olympic Committee's decision to allow Russian and Belarusian athletes to participate in international competitions.

"This decision is a false flag," Klitschko said on Twitter. "[IOC President] Thomas Bach serves the colors and interests of Russia. This decision contaminates the Olympic spirit and is like this war: a nonsense."

The IOC recommended Tuesday that individual athletes from Russia and Belarus should be allowed to return to competition under a neutral status as long as they have no military links, a move that was met with criticism from Canada, several European countries, and the U.S.

But the IOC, facing increased pressure to ban Russia and Belarus from the Paris Olympics because of the war in Ukraine, held off on deciding whether they can compete at next year's Summer Games.

Bach on Tuesday during the organization's three-day meeting defended the decision.

"First of all, what is maybe most important, what has changed, is that participation of athletes with Russian and Belarusian passports in competitions and in international competitions, works," Bach said. "We see this almost every day in a number of sports. We see it most prominently in tennis, but we see it also in cycling.

"We see it in some table tennis competitions, we see it in ice hockey, we see it in handball, we see it in football and in other leagues — in the United States, but also in Europe, and we also see it in other continents."

He added: "It's even that the governments on whose territory the competitions are taking place, they're issuing visas [to Russians and Belarusian athletes] with very few exceptions. In other countries, they're even issuing working permits where it's necessary for these players and athletes."

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also opposes Russia's and Belarus' participation.

"While Russia kills and terrorizes, representatives of the terrorist state have no place at sports and Olympic competitions," he said in February.

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