Highly-qualified athletes who are refugees will be allowed to compete in the Olympic Games for the first time, the president of the International Olympic Committee, Thomas Bach, announced at the UN General Assembly on Monday.
“Having no national team to belong to, having no flag to march behind, national anthem to play for them, these refugee athletes will be welcomed to the Olympic Games with the IOC flag and the IOC anthem,” said Bach.
“They will have a home together with all the other 11,000 athletes from 206 national Olympic committees in the Olympic Village.
This will be a symbol of hope for all the refugees in the world, and it will make the world better aware of the magnitude of this crisis.”
Bach also said that athletes from the world’s newest country, South Sudan, would participate for the first time at the 2016 Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro.
The UN General Assembly passed a resolution on Monday urging all countries and regions to observe the Olympic truce — ceasing all conflicts between countries and regions participating in the Games from seven days before the Olympics start until seven days after they finish. — IANS