By dreamsforce.com

Polish Sports and Tourism Minister Kamil Borniuk said at least 40 countries could boycott next year's Olympics in Paris. According to him, if athletes from Russia and Belarus are allowed to play, a large number of countries, including the United Kingdom, the United States, and Canada, will not participate in the Paris Olympics. But any kind of boycott harms athletes, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has warned boycotters.

According to the BBC, the IOC wants to allow athletes from Russia and Belarus to participate in the 2024 Olympics. Russia is now banned from international sports due to its involvement in the war with Ukraine. Some European countries have also boycotted Belarus, Russia's ally in the war. In such a situation, the countries are against allowing players from the two countries to play in the Olympics. But the IOC wants to give players a chance under a 'neutral flag'.

A plan in this regard was unveiled last week under the slogan 'No athlete should be kept out of the competition because of passport'. The UK government's culture minister, Mitchell Donnellan, condemned the plan as something out of a world war. Ukraine's president has threatened to boycott the Paris Olympics.

Poland's sports minister said Thursday that at least 40 countries, not just Ukraine, could boycott the Paris Olympics, adding, "If the Olympic Games are boycotted, we will be part of that coalition." Meanwhile, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, and Poland rejected plans to allow players from Russia and Belarus to play under neutral flags.

US White House press secretary Carine Yan-Pierre, however, said her country supports the IOC's plan, "to ensure that no athlete can represent Russia or Belarus."