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Around 40 countries could boycott the next Olympic Games, which would render the entire event meaningless, Poland's Sports and Tourism Minister Kamil Bortnyczuk was quoted as saying by the BBC.

His comments came after Poland, Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia jointly rejected the International Olympic Committee's (IOC) plan to allow Russians and Belarusians to compete in 2024.

Ukraine has threatened to boycott the Paris Olympics if that happens.

The IOC said on Thursday that any boycott would only "punish the athletes".

Bortnychuk stressed that he believed it would be possible to build a coalition of 40 countries, including Britain, the United States and Canada, to support a boycott of the IOC's plans ahead of the February 10 meeting.

He added: "That being said, I don't think we will face any tough decisions before the Olympics, and if we have to boycott the games, the coalition we will be in will be broad enough to make it pointless."

The IOC announced last week that it would "explore a path" to allow Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete in Paris under a neutral flag, adding that "no athlete should be prevented from competing just because of their passport."

Zelensky insisted to Macron that Russian athletes should not be allowed to participate in the Olympic Games in Paris

The move sparked condemnation, with the UK government saying the plan was "a world away from the reality of war".

Ukraine's sports minister Vadim Gutzeit said the country's sports authorities must "step up communication" with international federations to uphold the ban on Russian and Belarusian athletes, which was imposed by the IOC's executive committee immediately after Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022

However, IOC president Thomas Bach has since said it was only intended as a "protective" measure towards these athletes and now insists they should not be discriminated against.

On Thursday, the sports ministers of Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia and Poland said that "any effort by the International Olympic Committee to return Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete, even under a neutral flag, must be rejected."

They added: "Efforts to return Russian and Belarusian athletes to international sports competitions under the veil of neutrality legitimize the political decisions and widespread propaganda of these countries."

And they called on "all international sports organizations and federations" to suspend Russian and Belarusian athletes from international competitions until the war ends, writes "Darik".

The United States government said it supports the suspension of Russian and Belarusian sports governing bodies from international sports organizations and also encourages the organizations to stop broadcasting events in both countries.

White House press secretary Karin Jean-Pierre added that if athletes are allowed to participate in events like the Olympics, they should be as neutral athletes and "it should be absolutely clear that they are not representing the Russian or Belarusian state."

The IOC reiterated that no discussions have yet taken place regarding the return of Russian and Belarusian athletes to competition and warned Ukraine and other nations of the consequences of the boycott threat.

"The threat to boycott the Olympic Games, which the NOC of Ukraine is currently considering, goes against the foundations of the Olympic movement and the principles it stands for," the IOC wrote in a question-and-answer document published on Thursday.

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