Four journalists working for Russian state-run media outlet TASS have lost their credentials to cover the 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris.
The journalists include a pair of reporters and one photographer who traveled from Russia to France in order to cover the games, as well as one reporter who was already based in the country.
One of the affected journalists told financial news outlet Reuters that the situation was based on unspecified security concerns, but declined to provide additional information.
French government officials said the decision to withdraw the credentials was made by the event organizers, the International Olympic Committee (IOC). The IOC has not commented publicly on the matter.
Russian athletes are participating under a neutral territory designation after the country was banned from appearing at the Olympic Games in 2017 due to a doping scandal, and again in 2022 because of the country’s invasion of neighboring Ukraine.
Accordingly, Russian state television is not broadcasting the 2024 Summer Olympic Games, marking one of the rare occasions when the international competition is not available through conventional means in the country. The IOC is allowing Russians to stream the games through the Olympics website, where feeds from the Olympic Broadcasting Services are made available, and commercial broadcaster Telesport is offering some events on a tape delay.
