International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach on Thursday expressed confidence that the 2024 Paris Olympics would be a success.

"With the Olympic and Paralympic Games Paris 2024 only months away, the athletes, the fans, the entire Olympic community -- all of us -- are looking forward to a new era of Olympic Games: younger, more inclusive, more urban, more sustainable," Bach said in his New Year's message.

"It is inspiring to see everyone in the Olympic Movement making this new era of Olympic Games a reality. Therefore, we can look forward with great confidence to the Olympic Games Paris 2024 as a symbol of global unity and peace."

Earlier this month, the IOC announced its decision to have a limited number of Russian and Belarusian athletes compete in Paris as neutrals under "strict eligibility conditions."

The decision applies to athletes who do not support the war in Ukraine while removing the option of a blanket ban due to the invasion.

"We are longing for the Olympic Games Paris 2024 to unite the entire world in peaceful competition," Bach said.

The former Olympic fencer also touched on the topic of esports.

The IOC is "driving forward the digitalization of the Olympic Movement," Bach said. "The digital revolution, and in particular artificial intelligence and esports, offer us huge opportunities."

"We need to seize them now. This is why the IOC Esports Commission is studying the creation of Olympic Esports Games."

The IOC's inaugural Olympic Esports Week was held in June in Singapore.

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