IOC President Thomas Bach announced the team's creation at the 2015 UN General Assembly with the goal of bringing attention to the world's refugee crisis.
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Following the participation of the first-ever International Olympic Committee (IOC) Refugee Olympic Team at the Olympic Games Rio 2016, the IOC launched the Refugee Athlete Scholarship Program. IOC President Thomas Bach announced the team’s creation at the 2015 UN General Assembly with the goal of bringing attention to the world’s refugee crisis. The Rio 2016 squad consisted of ten athletes who, via their journeys to the Games and performances in Rio, conveyed a tremendous message of hope to the globe. The scholarships are fully financed by the IOC through its Olympic Solidarity initiative for refugee athletes and will allow the athletes to prepare and compete in qualification competitions leading up to the Olympic Games Paris 2024.
The Olympic Refuge Foundation (ORF) continues on this commitment by acting in place of a typical NOC, supervising Refugee Athlete Scholarship recipients and the IOC Refugee Olympic Team Paris 2024. Along with helping the athletes, the ORF makes sure that young people who have been displaced and their host communities can participate in sport and prosper in it every day of the year. The ORF uses sport to assist young people establish a sense of identity and inclusion in their new communities. To date, the ORF has 13 programs spread across 10 countries.
Three athletes from the initial group of 44, badminton player Aram Mahmoud, weightlifter Cyrille Tchatchet, and marathon runner Tesfay Felfel, have gained citizenship of their host country and are now eligible to compete for their new National Olympic Committee in 2022. (NOC). As a result, they are no longer included in the list.
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