Sarah Keane: Ireland will not boycott Paris Olympics

Ireland will not be boycotting the 2024 Olympic Games, according to Olympic Federation of Ireland chief executive Sarah Keane.

The threat of a widespread boycott of the Paris Games has grown in recent months, should the IOC allow Russian and Belarussian athletes to compete in the Games.

The international Olympic body indicated in January that it was continuing to work on a pathway whereby Russian and Belarussian athletes would be eligible to compete in the Games as neutrals.

Ukraine has emphatically rejected the proposal, with sports minister Vadym Guttsait saying that "as long as there is a war in Ukraine, Russian and Belarusian athletes should not be in international competitions".

However, speaking in Paris, where the OFI was announcing its plans for spectator and family hubs for the Games, Keane said that Ireland would not be participating in such a boycott.

"We will happily go on the record on this: Ireland will not be boycotting the 2024 Olympic Games. Full stop," Keane told reporters in the French capital.

"If our athletes decide they won't go, that’s up to them. But we will not be boycotting. The only people who lose out of that is the athletes and teams."

While the Irish government currently takes the view that the conditions do not exist for a return of Russian and Belarussian athletes to international competition, Keane says that Minister of State for Sport Thomas Byrne has told the OFI it will not interfere with the body's plans.

"He does not want to do anything that is anti-athlete. So, he will state the Government’s position very clearly, but he will leave us to do our business," Keane told reporters.

The IOC had advised international sports federations in February 2022 - in the days following the start of the