Paris [France], April 11: The Olympic Refuge Foundation (ORF) has announced five new Refugee Athlete Scholarship-holders who are being supported to train and compete with the aim of being selected to represent the IOC Refugee Olympic Team Paris 2024. This brings the total number of Refugee Athlete Scholarship-holders on the programme to 74. The refugee athletes are from 12 countries, live in 24 host countries, and represent 14 sports.
The composition of the Refugee Olympic Team for Paris 2024 will be announced by the President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Thomas Bach, during a special live-streamed event on 2nd May.
The five new athletes on the programme include a weightlifter, a swimmer, a boxer, a runner and a canoeist. The National Olympic Committee (NOC) of Spain is now, for the first time, hosting a refugee athlete.
The new athletes on the programme are Matin Balsini (Swimming; from Iran, host NOC: Great Britain), Fernando Dayan Enriquez (Canoe; from Cuba, host NOC: USA), Musa Suliman (Athletics: from Sudan, host NOC: Switzerland), Ramiro Mora (Weightlifting; from Cuba, host NOC: Great Britain), and Aryan Saed Panah (Boxing, from Iran, host NOC: Spain).
To be eligible for the programme, athletes must be elite competitors in their respective sport and be refugees in their host country, recognised by UNCHR, the UN Refugee Agency. The IOC Executive Board (EB) will decide the composition of the Refugee Olympic Team for Paris 2024, considering each athlete's sporting performance. Balanced representation in terms of sport, gender and regions will also be taken into consideration.
The Refugee Athlete Support programme is managed by the ORF and funded through the IOC's Olympic Solidarity. The scholarship provides the athletes with support needed to train and compete at the highest level.
The IOC Refugee Olympic Team, together with the Refugee Athlete Scholarship-holders, represent the challenges and resilience of more than 110 million displaced people worldwide. In addition to supporting elite athletes in their participation in the Olympic Games, the ORF works to provide access to safe sport for people affected by displacement worldwide.
Source: Emirates News Agency