BERLIN (Reuters) -The International Olympic Committee said it will offer a number of scholarships to help Palestinian athletes train for next year’s Asian Games and the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
Following a meeting with the Palestinian National Olympic Committee on Wednesday, the IOC said it would provide the scholarships through its Olympic Solidarity purse to help the region’s athletes get ready for the 2025 Asian Youth Games in Bahrain, the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games, the Aichi-Nagoya 2026 Asian Games and the 2028 LA Olympics.
About 50 Palestinian athletes are expected to benefit, with the main focus being on qualifying for the LA Games. Only a small number of Palestinians usually compete at the Olympics, with the total number of athletes less than 10.
“Like everyone interested in peace for the region, we follow the current diplomatic developments very closely and hope that they can soon lead to a pathway to peace,” IOC President Kirsty Coventry said in a statement following a meeting with Palestinian Olympic Committee chief Jibril Rajoub.
Israel maintains its war in Gaza is not against the population of Gaza but against the Hamas militant group whose fighters led the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel that killed 1,200 people and led to the capture of 251 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
The war in Gaza has caused the deaths of more than 66,000 people, according to local health officials.
“Our deepest sympathy continues to go out to all those affected by this conflict, and we naturally stand in solidarity with the Olympic community in the region,” Coventry said.
The IOC last year announced its support for the Palestinian Olympic Committee’s “Palestinian Sports Revival Plan”, and offered to help coordinate international efforts for funding aimed at rebuilding destroyed sports facilities.
The Olympic body has also resisted calls to ban Israel from the Olympics, with many sports facing similar pressure. This week Norwegian Football Federation President Lise Klaveness said Israel should be banned from international competitions over the war in Gaza.
The IOC has said neither the Israeli Olympic Committee nor the Palestinian Olympic Committee has violated its Olympic Charter in any way to warrant any consideration of a sanction.
(Reporting by Karolos Grohmann, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
Comments