In Estonia, public broadcaster ERR will not broadcast live the opening and closing ceremonies of the Youth Olympic Games in Dakar. The broadcaster made this decision after athletes from Russia — an aggressor state — and Belarus were allowed to participate under national flags, ERR News reports.
Broadcaster’s decision
ERR’s head of sports, Rivo Saarna, said that the broadcaster had received confirmation from the International Olympic Committee that Russian and Belarusian athletes would participate under national flags. According to him, they were initially supposed to compete as neutral athletes.
Saarna called the permission for the Russian and Belarusian youth teams to bring the flags and symbols of the aggressor states into the stadium an unfortunate development. He also said that the IOC’s decision normalizes Russia’s status as an ordinary member of the international community, even though it continues its war against Ukraine.
More current news is available on the UA.News Telegram channel Telegram.
In Saarna’s view, this approach contradicts the principles of Olympism, including the peaceful development of society, friendship, respect and solidarity. ERR informed the European Broadcasting Union and the Olympic Committee of its decision not to provide live broadcasts of the ceremonies.
Games in Dakar
The Youth Olympic Games in Dakar will take place from October 31 to November 13. Estonia will be represented by 12 athletes at the competition. Before making its decision, ERR had planned to show both ceremonies.
Read us on
Download our app
