Anne Hidalgo: I Want to Tell Russian and Belarusian Athletes That They Will Not Be Accepted in Paris

The Mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, stated during her visit to Kyiv that Russian and Belarusian athletes will “not be accepted” in the French capital if they arrive to participate in the Olympic Games this summer. This was reported by Le Monde.

“I want to tell Russian and Belarusian athletes that they will not be accepted in Paris. And I want to say to Ukrainian athletes and the entire Ukrainian people that we support them very much,” said the head of the Moscow administration.

However, the newspaper refers to a video circulating on X, shared by an anti-Russian association advocating for the exclusion of Russian athletes from the games. Other media outlets that reported on Hidalgo's fourth trip to Kyiv did not mention any such statements. The mayor's office has yet to respond to TASS's request for comment on Hidalgo's statement.

The Paris Olympic Games will be held from July 26 to August 11. Russian and Belarusian athletes will only be able to compete under a neutral status, provided they are not connected to security agencies and do not participate in team sports. The International Olympic Committee will not require them to sign a document condemning the special military operation.

Russians and Belarusians will not be allowed to participate in the opening ceremony during the athletes' parade, but they will be able to attend the event. In the event of winning gold medals in Paris, they will be awarded under specially created music without words.