The meeting of the Executive Committee of the International Olympic Committee, which began on Tuesday in Lausanne, could mark the future of the Olympic movement, which has been divided since that body announced its intention to readmit Russian and Belarusian athletes to international competition. It is that there are not a few countries and sports that do not agree with the lifting of the sanction on athletes from those two countries, excluded since February 2022 as part of the sanctions for the invasion of Ukraine. And what the first day of that three-day assembly left will not calm the spirits of those who defend that position.
As communicated Thomas Bach, the IOC resolved to “recommend international federations to allow athletes with Russian and Belarusian passports to participate in their competitions, individually and as neutrals.” On the other hand, it was advised against admitting the selections or teams of those two countries in competition. And no date was set to decide what will happen in paris 2024.
“The participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes as neutrals in international competitions works. We see this almost daily in sports like tennis, but also in cycling, in table tennis. We see it in ice hockey, in handball, in soccer and in other leagues in the United States. In none of these competitions have there been any security incidents,” the IOC president said at a press conference.
And he added: “The conditions are not subject to the development of the war, but to respect for the Olympic Charter and the Olympic values”.
The German, meanwhile, reiterated that this “permission” to return to compete will not be granted to any athlete who has openly shown solidarity or actively supported the war in Ukraine nor that it is part of the military or other Russian and Belarusian security agencies.
Bach assured that this Tuesday the issue of including Russia and Belarus in the Paris Olympicswhich Ukraine, Poland and the Baltic countries threaten to boycott if Russian presence is allowed.
“It is something that will be studied in due time, at the total discretion of the Executive and without being bound by the previous results of the Olympic qualifying competitions,” said the leader. “We would all like the war to end now and this is what we are asking for, but we are not waiting for that to happen to make the decision.”
It is worth remembering that in some sports the qualifying period for the Olympic event in the French capital has already begun, which will be held between July 26 and August 11 of next year. One of the disciplines that has already started the qualifying events is athletics, which last Thursday confirmed the exclusion “in the near future” of athletes from both countries.
On the eve of the meeting, Bach had already defended the return of the sanctioned athletes, assuring that “excluding athletes for political reasons would cause the international sports system to decline.”
While the IOC Executive was deliberating inside the compound, outside the headquarters of the organization where the meeting was held, a group of protesters demanded that the sanction against the athletes from Russia and Belarus be maintained.
Also 323 fencers -286 of whom are still active- presented a letter supporting that position. Among the signatories there are two Argentines, the saberman Stephen Lucchetti y Augustus Servello, foil specialist; in addition to the American Lee Kieferfoil Olympic champion in Tokio 2020; the french Manon Brunet, bronze in saber at those Games behind two fencers who were competing under the banner of the Russian Olympic Committee; and the ukrainian Olga KharlanOlympic champion in Beijing 2008.
“On behalf of more than 300 current and former fencers, we call on the IOC to uphold the suspension recommendations of the Russian and Belarusian Fencing Federations and their National Olympic Committees, and to ensure that the International Fencing Federation follow his directives”, could be read in a text addressed to Bach and Emmanuel KatsiadakisInterim President of the FIE.
The document was sent by email by Global Athlete, a group of athletes outside the classic sports institutions that was born after the outbreak of the Russian doping scandal. And it came as a response to the “catastrophic” decision that the FIE made on March 10 to reintegrate the Russians and Belarusians from April – when the qualification period for the 2024 Olympic Games begins -, “subject to any recommendations and future decisions of the IOC”.
The resolution of the FIE already had repercussions. At the end of last week, the German Fencing Federation resigned from the organization of a stage of the world Cup of female foil, scheduled for mayo en Tauberbischofsheim, considering that there were “too many open questions”. Shortly after, the Ukrainian association announced that it would boycott all competitions involving Russians and Belarusians. And now the rejection of his own athletes was added.
“With total disregard for the opinion of the athletes, the return of Russia and Belarus has been allowed,” the fencers denounced. “They have chosen Russian and Belarusian interests over the rights of athletes, especially Ukrainian ones, and by doing so they are failing to support the very people their organizations are supposed to support.”
“As of today, the Russian aggression against Ukraine has caused the death of 232 athletes, the destruction of 343 sports infrastructures, the exile of 40,000 athletes and the absence of sports infrastructure for 140,000 young athletes. The suspension must continue until Russia is completely withdraw from Ukrainian territory,” they said.
no one was happy
The IOC’s recommendation to international federations to re-qualify Russian and Belarusian athletes for international competitions left no one happy.
On one hand, the Russian Olympic Committee He rejected the criteria imposed by the IOC and described the decision of the international organization as a “farce” due to the established conditions.
“The decision of the IOC executive committee is a farce that violates the principles of the IOC and the UN. The announced conditions are absolutely inadmissible. It is discrimination based on nationality,” he said. Stanislav Pozdniakovpresident of the COR.
He added that the status of neutrality for Russian and Belarusian athletes constitutes a violation of human rights, while he described the rest of the criteria as “free”, “excessive” and “without legal basis”.
Pozdniakov particularly criticized the decision to leave out the teams of both nations, because that would prevent the possibility of participating “almost 30 percent of the athletes, which violates the Olympic Charter”; and the one that states that athletes linked to the army and security forces will not be able to compete again, because he considered that it seeks to “generate conflict and division within Russian sport.”
On the sidewalk in front they did not receive the IOC announcement with good eyes either.
Nancy Faeser, Germany’s Minister of the Interior and Sports, called the decision a “slap in the face of Ukrainian athletes.” “There is no reason for Russia to be allowed to return to world sport,” the German said in a statement, where she alludes to the “aggressive war” launched by Moscow against her neighbor.
While, Piotr Wawrzyk, Polish Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs assured that this Tuesday is a “day of shame” for the IOC. “What has Russia done so positive that its athletes are allowed to return to international competitions?” he asked on his Twitter account, in which he alluded to the war crimes committed by Russian troops in Ukraine and the massacres in Ukrainian towns such as Bucha, Irpin and Hostomel.
