American senator calls for Iran to be excluded from the 2024 Olympics
Senator Marsha Blackburn, a Republican representative from Tennessee in the Senate, has demanded Iran’s exclusion from the games, accusing Iran of what she considers human rights violations.
The International Olympic Committee has a history of banning countries for political reasons. The most recent political action by this committee was the exclusion of Russia and Belarus from the Paris Olympics due to Russia’s attack on Ukraine.
Russian athletes have previously been banned from participating in the Winter Olympics 2018 PyeongChang, the Summer Olympics 2020 Tokyo, and the 2022 World Cup in Qatar due to doping.
Last October, the International Olympic Committee announced that athletes from Russia and Belarus will be allowed to participate individually and neutrally in the Paris 2024 Olympics, without the right to use their country’s flag and anthem. Blackburn has called for a similar approach by the International Olympic Committee towards athletes from the Islamic Republic of Iran.
