PARIS (Reuters) – Russia’s state-run TASS news agency said the Olympic organising committee revoked accreditations for four of its journalists in Paris on Sunday and that the committee attributed the move to a decision by French authorities but gave Moscow no further explanation.
French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin’s office declined to comment on the case but noted that decisions to withdraw accreditation lie with the Games’ organiser, Paris 2024, based on information provided by the government.
Paris 2024 organisers had no immediate comment.
One of the four TASS reporters told Reuters they had been informed by Paris 2024 organisers that they would no longer be accredited for the Games. The four journalists are two reporters and one photographer who had come to cover the Games as well as one reporter who works in France.
“They (the organisers) said it had to do with security,” the reporter told Reuters. He said he still had his accreditation but when he tried to go through the security check it no longer was valid. He said the decision left one TASS photographer accredited.
TASS quoted its own public communications and international projects department as saying the move came as a surprise and that the four had entered Paris without incident. Three of those affected had covered the opening ceremony and some other events without any complaints from organisers, TASS added.
Russia is traditionally one of the top Olympic medal winners, but the Paris Games are not being shown on Russian state television and only 15 Russians are competing following a ban imposed over the war in Ukraine.
Russians and Belarusians can compete at the Games only as individuals with no flag, and had to pass a screening process designed to root out anyone who has publicly supported the war or military.
TASS said Paris had previously declined to accredit some Russian journalists for the Olympics and said the French had expressed fears about espionage.
It quoted foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova as saying protecting free speech was an empty phrase for French President Emmanuel Macron.
(Reporting by Karolos Grohmann, Layli Foroudi and Julien Pretot in Paris; Editing by Alison Williams)
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