Palestinian Athletes Invited to Compete at Paris Olympics… Without Having to Qualify!
Palestinian athletes will be given the opportunity to compete at the 2024 Olympic Games without having to qualify.
Thomas Bach, head of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), confirmed that six to eight Palestinian athletes will be invited to participate in the Paris Games. Qualification events are currently ongoing.
“Whave made the clear commitment that even if no [Palestinian] athlete would qualify on the field of play… then the NOC [National Olympic Committee] of Palestine would benefit from invitations, like other national Olympic Committees who do not have a qualified athlete,” Bach said in an interview with Agence France-Presse.
Bach added that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) had always “supported in many different ways the athletes to allow them to take part in qualifications and to continue their training.”
His comments come as Israel comes under increasing pressure from around the world to ease its offensive against the Islamist group Hamas,