EU countries should provide asylum for Russian and Belarusian athletes who condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Dominik Hašek, a former hockey goalkeeper, said at the European Parliament in Strasbourg on Tuesday.
Hašek – hockey legend and Olympic champion – visited Strasbourg to discuss with MEPs the participation of athletes promoting the regime of President Vladimir Putin in international sports events. Unless athletes clearly condemn the war, they should not compete in international competitions, even at next year’s Olympics in Paris, Hašek added.
“In the current situation, every Russian athlete is an advertisement for the Russian war. It does not matter whether they internally disagree with it or, on the contrary, support Putin,” Hašek told Czech reporters after this meeting with MEPs.
“We know very well that any Russian who condemns the war and Putin’s actions will not only be bullied but will probably go to court and be convicted,” Hašek said, advocating for refugee status for war-condemning athletes in EU countries.
He admitted that he is not sure how many athletes would take the option to go to the EU, but the EU should make it available.
Russians condemning the war could compete in the Olympics as part of a “refugee team”, he said.
The International Olympic Committee is currently counting on the possibility of Russian athletes participating in next year’s Paris Olympics, which some other countries have rejected and are considering boycotting the Games. The boycott mentioned in the event that Russians do attend the Olympics is not a happy solution, according to Hašek.
(Aneta Zachová | EURACTIV.cz)
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