Dear signatories of our petition #JOsansPoutine #ParisOlympicsWithoutPutin,

We have just published this op-ed in Ouest-France (one of France's most read newspapers), to say "No to Putin's army of athletes!" at #Paris2024. Please share it widely!

The fight remains as relevant as ever, despite the current upheavals in the Middle East. They certainly divert attention from the war in Ukraine, but they also illustrate the global power of nuisance of Russia, whose strategy is increasingly clear: sow chaos to bring down democracies, with the direct help of Iran and North Korea, and scarcely more discreetly of China.

Sporting institutions are still wavering over the participation of Russia and Belarus in international competitions. UEFA, for example, announced at the end of September that it would reinstate their under-17 soccer teams in European championships, only to backtrack two weeks later. The International Paralympic Committee has partially reinstated the Russian and Belarusian committees, but has not yet ruled on the conditions for their para-athletes' participation in the Paris Paralympic Games (August 28-September 8, 2024). 

Conversely, the IOC has pronounced the suspension of the Russian Olympic Committee (as pictured above), for having "annexed" sports structures in Ukrainian territories occupied by Russia. However, it continues to maintain the suspense surrounding the participation of Russians and Belarusians in the Paris Games, and has reacted strongly to Vladimir Putin's cynical accusations of "ethnic discrimination".

So anything remains possible, and we're counting on you to continue to circulate this petition widely - for the record, it also exists in French, German and Ukrainian - and demand that the IOC President and the French President speak out clearly against Putin's war propaganda takeover of the Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games!