The sanctions against Russian sports derived from the invasion of Ukraine by the Russian army are not likely to be lifted in the short termafter noting the International Olympic Committee (IOC) that its position is the same “since February”.
“Our position has not changed since February”said body spokesman Mark Adams, referring to a recent speech by President Thomas Bach to the Assembly of National Olympic Committees. “If the president made anything clear, it’s that this is not the time to lift sanctions,” he said.
The situation of the war “is changing” and is subject to daily monitoringAdams said, but recalled that “the mission of the Olympic Movement is to unite the world in peace.”
Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, between the Beijing Winter Olympics and Paralympics, which the IOC considered a breach of the Olympic truce. For this reason, he recommended that the federations not organize any competition in the territory of Russia or its ally Belarus and that their athletes only compete if they were deprived of the symbols of their country.
In practice, there are no Russians or Belarusians participating in practically any sportwith the most notable exception of the professional tennis circuits.
The IOC Executive held this Monday in Lausanne (Switzerland) the first of three days of meetingsin which he heard a “solid report” from the organizers of Paris 2024, the next Games on the list, with the good news for them of the agreement reached with FIBA, the international basketball federation, to play the group stage in Lille, 200 km from the capital.
It is “a provisional approval”specified the executive director of the IOC for the Olympic Games, Christophe Dubi, who indicated that, As the Pierre-Mauroy stadium is a sports pavilion, it requires technical conditioning that FIBA will be pending to give its final approval.
The final phase of handball will be played on the same stage.
Decisions like this that bet on the use of the facilities Already existing ones will allow the organizing committee to present a balanced budget next Monday to its board of directors, Dubi commented.
The CEO spoke of a “forensic job” by Paris 2024 “to find where to save and where to get new income.”
On the other hand, spokesman Mark Adams reported receipt of a letter of resignation from Patrick Hickey, IOC member for Ireland, “for reasons of health and on the advice of his doctors”.
77 years old, Hickey had been a member of the IOC since 1995 but had been self-suspended since 2016 was involved in a scandal of alleged ticket reselling at the Rio Games.
