Polish Sports and Tourism Minister Kamil Bortnieczyk said 40 countries could boycott the next Olympic Games, rendering the entire event meaningless.
His comments came after Poland, Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia jointly rejected an International Olympic Committee (IOC) plan to allow Russians and Belarusians to compete in 2024.
Ukraine has threatened to boycott the Paris Olympics if that happens.
But the IOC said on Thursday that any boycott would only “punish the athletes”.
Bortniczuk said he believed it would be possible to form a coalition of 40 countries, including Britain, the United States and Canada, to support the bloc on the IOC’s plans before the Feb. 10 meeting.
He added: “Given that, I don’t think we’re going to have to make tough decisions before the Olympics and, if we boycott the Games, the alliance we’ll be part of won’t be able to hold the Games.” would be broad enough to render it meaningless.”
The IOC announced last week that it would “find a way” to allow Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete under a neutral flag in Paris, adding that “any athlete will be allowed only their Passport should not be barred from competing”.
The move was condemned, with the UK government saying the plan was “a world away from the reality of war”.
Ukraine’s Sports Minister Vadim Gutsit said the country’s sports bodies needed to “strengthen communication” with international federations to uphold the ban on Russian and Belarusian athletes, following Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine. It was imposed by the IOC Executive Committee soon after.
However, IOC president Thomas Bach has since said it was only intended as a “safety” measure for these athletes, and now insists they should not be discriminated against.
On Thursday, the sports ministers of Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia and Poland said they “reject any attempt by the International Olympic Committee to bring Russian and Belarusian athletes back to compete under a neutral flag.” Should”.
He added: “Efforts to bring Russian and Belarusian athletes back to international sporting events under the guise of neutrality justify political decisions and extensive propaganda by these countries.”
And he called on “all international sports organizations and federations” to exclude Russian and Belarusian athletes from international competition until the end of the war.
The United States government said it supports international sports organizations suspending Russian and Belarusian sports governing bodies and is encouraging the organizations to stop broadcasting events in both countries.
White House Press Secretary Karen Jean-Pierre added that, if athletes are allowed to compete in events such as the Olympics, they must be neutral athletes and “make it very clear that they represent the Russian or Belarusian states.” Not doing”.
The IOC reiterated that there have been no discussions yet on the return of Russian and Belarusian athletes to competition and warned Ukraine and other countries about the implications of the boycott threat.
“Threatening a boycott of the Olympic Games, which the NOC of Ukraine is currently considering, is against the fundamental principles and principles of the Olympic movement,” the IOC said in a statement published on Thursday. Written in the answer document.
“The boycott is a violation of the Olympic Charter, which obligates all NOCs to ‘send athletes to participate in the games of the Olympiad’. As history shows, previous boycotts have not achieved their political goals and only Acted to punish athletes. Boycotting NOCs.”
