18:38, 15 October 2013

Zakareishvili: so far, Georgia has no reason to boycott the 2014 Olympics

Part of the population of Georgia continues to protest against the participation of Georgian athletes in the Olympic Games in Sochi. The online petition against this participation has been signed by 9916 persons. However, so far, the government of Georgia sees no arguments for boycotting the Olympics.

The online petition was drafted by the local NGOs "Transparency International-Georgia" and "International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy".

The petition is addressed to the Prime Minister of Georgia Bidzina Ivanishvili, the President of the National Olympic Committee (NOC) Lery Khabelov and the Minister for Youth Matters and Sports Levan Kipiani. The signatories call the country's government and the NOC to reverse the decision on the participation of the Georgian national team in the upcoming Olympics.

On October 14, Paata Zakareishvili, the State Minister for Reintegration, said that he saw no grounds for reviewing the above decision; however, he did not rule out that the issue may be brought to the government for reconsideration.

Author: Inna Kukudzhanova

Source: CK correspondent