As Paris prepares for the 2024 Olympics questions loom over Russia and Belarus’ presence at the summer games.

Questioned about the presence of athletes in the 2024 games , French President Macron said that the Russian flag “cannot be shown at the Olympics” at a time when the country is committing war crimes.

This was said in an interview with sports newspaper L’Equipe on Wednesday, in which Macron thought that a “consensus” was widespread as to not show the flag.

However, he did say that the final decision about Russian and Belarusian athletes takes part in competitions is up to the the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and its head Thomas Bach.

The IOC has recommended that Russian and Belarusian athletes could compete under a neutral flag, and their participation would depend on whether they actively supported the war in Ukraine.

This isn’t the first time Russia has been banned or sanctioned, landing in international hot water over its invasion of Ukraine, which has been going on since February 2022. It was banned from Eurovision shortly after the beginning of the invasion, while F1 driver Nikita Mazepin having his contract terminated “with immediate effect” back in March 2022 weeks after Russia’s “military operation” kicked off.

Should Russia be able to compete?