FRANKFURT (GERMANY), March 3. (DPA/EP) –
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) asked its Ukrainian member Sergey Bubka on Thursday to coordinate the humanitarian assistance planned for his country after the invasion of Russia.
The IOC has created a solidarity fund for Ukraine and its president, Thomas Bach, has already explained in a letter to the Olympic Movement that “whenever possible”, they should “increase the assistance that is already provided”. “We also want to make sure that it is coordinated effectively,” he added.
Therefore, the IOC has “urgently requested” the president of the Ukrainian Olympic Committee (NOC) and former pole vaulter Sergey Bubka “to come immediately to Lausanne to coordinate all elements of humanitarian assistance to the Ukrainian Olympic Community”.
“With the support of Olympic Solidarity in Lausanne and his team at the NOC in Ukraine, Mr. Bubka will lead the allocation and distribution of the solidarity fund to the Ukrainian Olympic community and sports movement,” the IOC said.
“To facilitate this task, we will begin by collecting information on the whereabouts of these members of the Ukrainian Olympic community, as well as ongoing initiatives and support,” Bach said, reiterating the importance of aid distribution being coordinated by Bubka, 58 years old.
The United Nations has said that more than 1 million people in Ukraine, mainly women and children, have been “forcibly displaced from their homes” since the invasion began a week ago, Bach recalled in his letter.
“Ultimately, the Olympic Refuge Foundation is well placed to respond to the imminent impacts that this armed conflict will create on the well-being of the Ukrainian people and their host communities,” concluded the IOC President.