Britain strongly opposed the participation of Russian and Belarusian players, who invaded Ukraine, from participating in the 2024 Paris Olympics, and waged a public opinion campaign against sponsors of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
Reuters reported on the 11th (local time) that the British government sent an open letter to IOC sponsors, asking them to pressure the IOC, which paved the way for athletes from both Russia and Belarus to participate in the Paris Olympics.메이저놀이터
The British government sent a letter to the chief executives of 13 top IOC sponsors, TOP (The Olympic Partner), including Samsung, Coca-Cola and Visa, in the name of British Culture Minister Lucy Fraser.
“We are fully aware that politics and sport are very intertwined at present in Russia and Belarus,” Fraser wrote, “but we have concluded that the Russian and Belarusian regimes should not be allowed to use sport for their propaganda.”
“Unless [the IOC] has addressed our concerns, the lack of significant transparency, and clear details of a viable ‘neutral country’ model, we do not agree to allow Russian and Belarusian athletes to participate in the Games,” he added.
After the Ukrainian crisis broke out in February last year, the IOC sanctioned the International Sports Federation (IF) for each event to disallow athletes from both Russia and Belarus from participating in international competitions.
Although the sanctions are still in effect, the IOC faced a fierce aftermath when it made a decision in January of this year to conditionally approve athletes from the two countries to compete in the Paris Olympics as neutral countries (or neutral organizations) that cannot use their national flags and national anthems.
Ukraine, the three Baltic countries, and Eastern and Northern European countries adjacent to Russia raised their voices against the IOC’s decision. Some countries, including Ukraine, are considering boycotting the Paris Olympics.
The UK is a representative country that rebelled against the IOC’s decision, leading a joint statement in February urging sports ministers from 35 Western countries, including Korea and the United States, to ban athletes from Russia and Belarus from participating in the Olympics.
Companies that become Olympic TOP partners pay an astronomical amount to the IOC and receive exclusive advertising marketing rights throughout the world during the Winter and Summer Olympics. With the IOC’s powerful ‘money line’, there are currently 14 TOP sponsors.
Following broadcasting rights fees (61%), which account for the highest percentage of $7.6 billion in revenue for the fiscal year 2017-2021 disclosed by the IOC, sponsorships from TOP partners accounted for 30% (2.28 billion dollars, approximately 3.164 trillion won). . In the 2021-2024 period, there was also a report that TOP sponsorship exceeded $3 billion.