IOC Says Spain Will Not Allow Yugoslav Athletes at Barcelona

Yugoslav athletes have little hope of going to the Barcelona Olympics because Spain has said it will apply United Nations’ sanctions and bar them from the country, the International Olympic Committee president said Sunday.

In a statement after an emergency meeting on Yugoslavia, the 10-member IOC Executive Board said it accepts the Spanish government’s stance, conveyed in a letter Friday.

It would be the first time the U.N. Security Council has effectively dictated sports policy to the IOC.

The IOC said it will continue to seek a solution to allow Yugoslav participation in the Games until July 11, the day the Olympic Village in Barcelona opens. The Games begin July 25.

“We will make all efforts to safeguard the rights of the athletes,” IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch said at news conference. “But at this moment I am not very optimistic.”

Yugoslavia was banned from international team sports under sanctions adopted last month by the U.N. Security Council. The U.N. sanctions were designed to pressure Serbia and Montenegro to end their involvement in the bloodshed in Bosnia-Herzegovina.