The leadership of the Council of Europe supports the call to the International Olympic Committee not to allow Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete in 2024.

 The press service cites the corresponding statement of the Deputy General Secretary of the Council of Europe Bjorn Berge.

 Berge's comment was made against the background of the discussion of the draft resolution of the PACE, where the IOC is called upon to prevent Russians and Belarusians from hosting the Olympics.

 Bjorn Berge noted that sport has never been "outside of politics."

 "It is very difficult for me to accept that Russian and Belarusian athletes will be able to compete at the Olympic and Paralympic Games while Russia, with indirect and direct support of Belarus, is waging an absolutely unacceptable war of aggression against Ukraine," said the Deputy Secretary General of the Council of Europe.

 "Some Russian and Belarusian athletes are themselves military or may receive support, including financial, from those who are under sanctions. It may not be easy to prove, but their integrity is at least in question... So far, the Russian Federation is conducting this barbaric and illegal war with the support of the Belarusian regime, we must protect the integrity of sports and all athletes. Therefore, it is necessary to eliminate athletes from both countries," concluded Berge.

 It will be recalled that about 30 countries, including the host of the 2024 Olympics, France, called on the IOC to remove Russians and Belarusians from participating in the games in Paris due to problems with the clarity of the "neutrality" of athletes.

 German Interior Minister Nancy Feser threatens to ban Russian athletes from entering the country if the International Olympic Committee (IOC) allows them to compete.