Thomas Bach, president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), speaks at the United Nations General Assembly at UN headquarters in New York, Oct. 26, 2015. UN member states adopted a resolution reaffirming the important role that sports and the Olympic games play in fostering global peace. The resolution urged member states to observe the Olympic truce -- ceasing all conflicts between countries participating in the games from 7 days before the Olympics start until 7 days after they finish. (Xinhua/Li Muzi)
NEW YORK, Oct. 27 (Xinhua) -- The best refugee athletes will be invited to participate in the Rio Olympics in 2016, even if they don't have a home country to represent.
International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Thomas Bach made the announcement Monday to the U.N. General Assembly.
"Having no national team to belong to, having no flag to march behind, national anthem to play for them, these refugee athletes will be welcomed to the Olympic Games with the IOC flag and the IOC anthem," said Bach.
"They will have a home together with all the other 11,000 athletes from 206 national Olympic committees in the Olympic village. This will be a symbol of hope for all the refugees in the world, and it will make the world better aware of the magnitude of this crisis."
Bach also said that athletes from the world's newest country, South Sudan, would participate for the first time in the 2016 Summer Olympic Games -- to be held from Aug. 5 to 21 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil -- adding that the IOC hopes this will send a signal of hope to a young nation and its people.
The U.N. General Assembly adopted a resolution Monday urging all countries and regions to observe the Olympic truce -- ceasing all conflicts between countries and regions participating in the games from seven days before the Olympics start until seven days after they finish.
