HAVANA-. He Cuban Olympic Committee (COC) demanded on Tuesday the “immediate expulsion” of an island athlete who was included by the organizers of the next Paris 2024 Olympic Games as part of a team of refugees who will participate in a sporting event.
In May, the International Olympic Committee (IOC), in collaboration with the United Nations Refugee Office, announced the formation of a delegation that could include athletes from various countries who could not represent their flags because they were uprooted or persecuted.
It was the third time that a delegation of this nature was present, but the first time that two Cubans were included: Fernando Dayán Jorge, Olympic champion in canoeing in Tokyo 2020, and weightlifter Ramiro Mora, now residents of the United States and Great Britain respectively.
In May, Cuba rejected the inclusions, considering that the IOC had made a mistake by “mixing oil with vinegar” since the athletes were not persecuted or uprooted and had made the decision to emigrate like many other island athletes who left the country during these years of economic crisis.
“Regrettably, one of the two athletes included has made disrespectful and fallacious political statements against his country, his people and the sports movement that allowed him to become Olympic champion in Tokyo 2020,” said the official statement issued by the COC on Tuesday.
The statement did not mention the name of the athlete in question, but it is easy to deduce that it is the canoeist. Nor was it indicated what the alleged statements made by him were, although the athlete did not hide in the last two years the displeasure with which he left the country, abandoning his delegation in Mexico to cross the border and settle in the United States.
Contacted by The Associated Press in Paris, Jorge declined to comment on the Cuban request.
“The COC feels obliged to publicly report this situation and demand the immediate expulsion of the aforementioned athlete from the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, in accordance with the rules governing the International Olympic Movement,” the statement said, indicating that the games cannot be political platforms or lend themselves to “manipulation” because “IOC officials recognize that none of these Cuban athletes are uprooted by war or persecuted.”
The official text of the Cuban sports authorities made no mention of weightlifter Mora.
For decades, sport in Cuba was developed under the premises of amateurism and was considered a jewel of the social model on the island due to its massive popularity and good results. In recent years, however, economic crises and offers of professionalization by other countries caused hundreds of high-level athletes to leave the island. Some acknowledged their economic motivations, others made political comments.