The International Olympic Committee is defending its decision to allow athletes from Russia and Belarus to participate in the next Olympics. Selected athletes will be able to compete under a neutral flag at the Summer Games in Paris. The Czech Olympic Committee is against it and some of its sponsors are also speaking out. But Russia is not the only source of tension in sports.
What you will also hear in today’s episode at 5:59
Why the decision to allow athletes from Russia and Belarus to start reflects the reality of the functioning of the International Olympic Committee. That the cause of the impending boycott of the Olympics in Paris will be the view of part of the world on Israel’s actions in Gaza rather than Russia’s war in Ukraine. In what way did the father of the Olympics “found” the current tension Pierre de Coubertin.
The Summer Olympics in Paris have been accompanied by a dispute over the participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes for many months before the start. Last week, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) gave the go-ahead for the start of selected neutral athletes from Russia and Belarus. However, the decision is criticized by a part of the public and athletes, the Czech Olympic Committee (ČOV) also criticized it. Nevertheless, one of his partners announced the termination of cooperation.
“The Czech Olympic Committee can constantly publicly declare that it is against the participation. But he actually has no means to intervene,” says sports sociologist and author of the Outsider podcast Vojtěch Ondráček. In an interview for the 5:59 podcast, he recalls that the WWTP has held the same position since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. But now the only stronger weapon in his arsenal is apparently just boycotting the Olympics. And that, according to Ondráček, would be problematic both for the athletes and for the future of the committee itself.
Photo: Barbora Sochorová, Seznam Zpravy
Sociologist of sport Vojtěch Ondráček.
The decision of the International Olympic Committee was defended on Wednesday by its head Thomas Bach. “Individual athletes cannot be punished for the actions of their governments,” he told BBC News. Bach also described Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as “one of the 28 wars and conflicts that take place in the world… and all other athletes compete with each other in peace.”
In addition to the WWTP, some other Olympic committees, especially those in the West, reject the participation of Russians and Belarusians in Paris. But even they cannot exert enough pressure. According to sociologist Ondráček, the setting of the IOC, which takes all its members into account, plays a role in this. Because everyone has the same right to vote in the election of the president.
“From the beginning, African and Asian countries were neutral towards punishing Russia. And the International Olympic Committee actually accommodates them. It meets the majority – so the decision (regarding Russians and Belarusians) is democratic in this sense,” Ondráček says.
If boycott, then because of Israel?
At the same time, different views in the world do not only concern Russia and the war in Ukraine. Israel’s offensive, which it launched in the Gaza Strip in response to the terrorist attack by Hamas on October 7, is also receiving a lot of attention at the moment.
“Arab countries have a completely opposite opinion (than what societies in Central Europe may have) about what is happening in Israel and Palestine now. And it is quite likely that they will soon threaten to boycott the Olympics if there are no changes,” emphasizes the sociologist of sports, according to whom the main tension surrounding the Paris Olympics may stem from the conflict in Gaza.
Moreover, it is not just the Arab world. According to Vojtěch Ondráček, even in the Western media, voices often appear that the debate about the participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes reveals hypocrisy.
The sociologist explains this view with reference to the texts of the American activist, academic and former professional athlete Jules Boykoff. “How is it that we are bothered by Russia with what it is doing in Ukraine? And how come we don’t mind what Israel is doing? This is how the question currently stands in the West,” says Ondráček, who deals with the political and social philosophy of sport at the Faculty of Education of Charles University.
Photo: Shutterstock.com
XXXIII. Paris will host the Summer Olympics in July and August 2024.
The “unfortunate legacy” of the Olympics
The tension surrounding the start of selected Russian and Belarusian athletes in Paris, however, probably stems from the way modern Olympism was set up at its inception. According to Ondráček, its founder, Baron Pierre de Coubertin, significantly imprinted the idea of nationalism on his project, when individual athletes represent their nations at the Games.
Today it is also a burden. And that’s not only because – as the sociologist describes – the nationalism imprinted on the athletes’ performances leads to the fact that there is an effort to use the Olympics also as a tool of state propaganda.
“It’s an unfortunate legacy that we can’t get out of,” says the expert, adding that athletes don’t actually have the opportunity to decide for themselves whether or not they want to represent their country when participating in the Olympics. Which, from Ondráček’s point of view, also means that Russian athletes cannot automatically be assumed to represent the regime ruling in Moscow. These athletes don’t have to agree with him politically, or maybe they don’t have any opinion at all. But they represent their country, because they have no choice but to do top sport.
“Those athletes are individual people. We are asking for the punishment of that country (Russia), we would like to punish it in some way for what it is doing in Ukraine. But we don’t have the resources to do that and this is one of the few tools. But we cannot punish innocent people,” says the sports sociologist.
In the 5:59 podcast, you will also learn how the IOC handles its political power or whether pressure from the big sponsors of the Olympics can be expected due to the participation of Russian athletes. Listen in the player at the beginning of the article.
Editor and co-editor: Pavel Vondra, Matěj Válek
Sound design and music: Martin Hůla
Sources of audio samples: ČT24, ČT sport, Czech Television (via YouTube), TV Nova, Český rozhlas Plus, Český rozhlas Radiožurnál
Podcast 5:59
The news podcast of Lenka Kabrhelova’s team. One essential topic every weekday in minute six. The most important events in the Czech Republic, in the world, politics, economy, sport and culture through the lens of Seznam Zpráv.
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