Up to 10 refugees to compete at Rio Games: IOC | MSNBC - 0 views
-
Up to 10 refugees to compete at Rio Games: IOC
-
A team of refugees that will compete at this year’s Rio de Janeiro Olympics could number as many as 10 athletes, International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach on Wednesday.
-
The team, which was officially approved by the IOC Executive Board and called Team of Refugee Olympics Athletes (ROA), will be made up from a pool of 43 prospective Olympians
- ...6 more annotations...
-
Nomination criteria included sporting level, official United Nations-verified refugee status and personal situation and background, the IOC said.
-
“It depends very much on the sporting qualifications. This team may end up between five and 10 athletes maybe.”
-
“By welcoming ROA to the Olympic Games in Rio, we want to send a message of hope to all the refugees of the world,” Bach said.
-
“Having no national team to belong to, having no flag to march behind, having no national anthem to be played, these refugees will be welcomed to the Olympic Games with the Olympic flag and with the Olympic anthem
-
ROA will be housed in the athletes’ village along with all other national teams and will enter the stadium as the penultimate team at the opening ceremony, ahead of the host nation.