Paris, July 23 (RHC)-- The Cuban Olympic Committee (COC) today issued a statement disagreeing with the inclusion of nationals in the Refugee Team that will attend the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
The team was publicly presented as a group of young athletes “uprooted by war or persecution,” something that does not apply to any of the Cubans who make it up, the statement notes.
The text explains that the decision to include them was made behind the back of the COC and with the clear objective of attacking the image of the national sports movement, which has given so much glory to our people.
From the moment the news broke, the Cuban managers, in a serious and respectful manner, have been in communication with the International Olympic Committee (IOC), so that this unfortunate situation could be clarified, without positive results.
The statement makes it clear that the COC supports the idea with which the Refugee Team was originally conceived and that it has nothing against Cuban athletes and coaches who live or develop their careers in other countries.
Although the IOC directors assured that the athletes included in this team would not make extra-sports statements, one of the Cuban athletes included, Tokyo 2020 Olympic champion, made disrespectful and fallacious political statements against his country, his people and the sports movement that allowed him to graduate at that summer event.
The text states that the event is a violation of the Olympic Charter and the rules established by the IOC for all athletes participating in the Olympic Games.
Given this situation, and taking into account that the IOC has not commented on this fact, the COC declared that it is obliged to publicly report this situation and demand the immediate expulsion of the aforementioned athlete from the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, according to the rules that govern the International Olympic Movement.
"The Cuban Sports Movement demands that the IOC fulfill its responsibilities of enforcing the principles of Olympism," it says at the end of the note. (Source:PL)
