Yugoslavia Will Send Individuals to Games

Yugoslavia’s Olympic Committee has accepted terms established by the United Nations that will allow that country’s athletes to compete in the Summer Olympics as individuals, but not as members of teams.

“We are unanimous in our will to have our athletes compete in the Barcelona Olympics as individuals,” the committee’s secretary general, Caslav Veljic, said after a two-hour meeting Wednesday at Belgrade.

Yugoslav Olympic officials responded negatively when they learned Tuesday of the decision made by the U.N. Security Council’s sanctions committee. But Boris Stankovic, one of the country’s two International Olympic Committee members, said here Wednesday that they had reconsidered.

“There is pressure from the federations in the individual sports and athletes who are qualified,” he said. “They want to take part in the Olympic Games. They think that athletes from team sports understand their position.”

Blaming Yugoslavia for military aggression against a former republic, Bosnia-Herzegovina, the United Nation’s Security Council enacted sanctions on May 30 against the country, including a sports ban.

The sanctions committee determined Tuesday, after five days of deliberations, that the ban applies only to athletes in team sports, but that prevented at least 80 of the 118 athletes in Yugoslavia’s delegation from traveling here.

Others could still be affected. Although relay teams in track and swimming were specifically prohibited by the United Nations, it did not mention other events in which athletes often form teams, such as cycling, rowing and table tennis. The IOC’s director general, Francois Carrard, said that the IOC will provide clarification today.

Until then, he suggested that reporters “call up the U.N. sports department and see how they respond. They are very good at it because they already have chosen the European champion in soccer.”

When Yugoslavia was banned from the European Championships last month, Denmark was chosen as the replacement and won the tournament.