The Minister of Sports and the Olympic and Paralympic Games (JOP) concedes: “It’s not a simple question. » Amélie Oudéa-Castéra refers to the file which agitates the international sports and diplomatic authorities: the possible participation of Russian and Belarusian sportsmen under neutral status in the Olympic high mass of the summer of 2024 in Paris.
Tuesday, April 25, before the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europethe Minister recalled the need for political leaders to “actually understand” what can mean the model of neutrality that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has invited sports federations to apply to competitions – without deciding, at this stage, what will happen for the Games – and what can be “its viability”.
On March 28, the body based in Lausanne (Switzerland) linked the return of Russian and Belarusian athletes to “strict conditions” : no national anthem or flag, participation limited to individuals only – teams remaining excluded –, provided they have not supported the war in Ukraine and are not under contract with the army or the services of security.
On this last point, the work carried out by the French collective For Ukraine, for their freedom and ours! is uplifting. This group of professors and researchers from all disciplinary fields, created after the invasion of the country by Kremlin troops on February 24, 2022, scrutinized the list of Russian Olympic medalists at the Tokyo Games in 2021 – excluding team sports. Of the 92 athletes listed, 58 are military or police, or nearly two-thirds.
“Bubble of Patriotism”
Including the licensees of CSKA Moscow – an all-sports club which, although it no longer has any ties with the Red Army, continues to serve the interests of the government – those of Dynamo Moscow – founded in 1923 by Felix Dzerzhinsky, the leader of Stalin’s secret police, and still today closely linked to the country’s intelligence service, the FSB – and adding the athletes who openly expressed support for the war, they total 71, more than three quarters , to leave the framework of neutrality as defined by the IOC.
In March 2022, rhythmic gymnast Dina Averina, 24, Olympic vice-champion in the individual all-around, Viktoria Listunova, 17, crowned with the women’s artistic gymnastics team, or swimmer Evgeny Rylov, 26, in gold in the 100m and 200m backstroke and in silver on the 4 × 200m freestyle relay, for example, medals around their necks and the letter “Z”, a rallying sign for the military intervention, were displayed on their held on the stage of a giant rally at the Luzhniki stadium in Moscow.
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2023-04-27 17:12:05
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