It smelled of bloody money: the IOC returned Russians and Belarusians to international competitions, but not all

The International Olympic Committee (IOC), whose activities criticize Ukrainian athletes and functionaries, will allow Russian and Belarusian athletes to return to international competitions.

This issue was the main one at the meeting of the Executive Committee of the organization held on March 28 in Lausanne, Switzerland, and the functionaries made a decision in favor of the athletes representing the aggressor countries.

However, the IOC still left a number of restrictions for them. For example, Russians and Belarusians will be able to compete only in a neutral status without the use of national symbols, while they will not be represented in team sports. Also, athletes who support military aggression against Ukraine, and are also considered employees of law enforcement agencies, will not be allowed to compete. The latter is especially important, since every third Russian Olympian at the Beijing 2022 Winter Games was an army soldier, representing CSKA. We add that the decision made does not concern the possibility of admitting representatives of the aggressor countries to the Olympics in 2024 and 2026 - separate meetings will be held on this issue.

“Firstly, we do not recommend participation, but put forward very strict conditions for international federations who may want to allow athletes with Russian and Belarusian passports to compete in their tournaments under their responsibility. quotes the words IOC President Thomas Bach website Tribuna.com. - Secondly, the recommendations of February 28, 2022 were not elimination, they were not sanctions, they were a preventive measure. We introduced it for two main reasons, because there were a number of countries that decided which athletes could participate in certain competitions, refusing to issue visas to Russians and Belarusians, threatening their athletes with leaving international federations, even from NOCs, taking their funding if they will compete with Russians and Belarusians.

The second reason is that we could not guarantee that the hosts of the competitions would be able to provide security for the Russians and Belarusians due to the very tense atmosphere in a number of countries. This compromised the integrity of international sports. And that would be against our mission, because we have a dilemma. And contrary to our mission, we had to issue this recommendation not to invite Russians and Belarusians to international competitions in order to protect the integrity of international sport.

What has changed since then? I can name several factors, but let’s outline only two. First, we see that in a number of sports - tennis, cycling, handball, football, hockey - this is already working. You see Russian and Belarusian athletes competing in some sports. They even compete against the Ukrainians there. And we see it almost every day in women’s and men’s tennis.

Secondly, there is a clear statement from two independent UN special rapporteurs on human rights. I will quote some of these remarks: “We agree that this war is illegal. The specific obligations of countries continue to exist, and the prohibition of direct discrimination is one of the core values ​​of the human rights system. We need to make sure we focus on countries. I think it’s absolutely perfect that the IOC and others have excluded Russia and Belarus. We must begin by agreeing that these states will be excluded. The question is what will happen to people? This is not a gray area of ​​international law. It is something that binds all countries and all people. It is very important that we call this a peremptory norm of international law. For this reason, the general ban on Russian and Belarusian athletes and artists cannot continue. This is a gross violation of human rights. The idea is not that we are going to recognize human rights for individuals like us and with whom we coordinate their actions and behavior. The idea is that everyone has the right not to be discriminated against because of a passport“.

However, this decision of the IOC caused a flurry of criticism from adequate Europeans. In particular, it was strongly German Interior Minister Nancy Feiser.

“The decision of the IOC is a slap in the face for Ukrainian athletes , - the politician wrote on the official page of the German Interior Ministry on Twitter. - They deserve the solidarity of international sport. The least that Ukraine can count on is a clear position. International sport must unequivocally condemn the brutal Russian-aggressor war. This is possible only with the complete exclusion of Russian and Belarusian athletes. The fact that the IOC does not want to admit the Russian military or teams is an absolute minimum and not enough.

There is no reason for Russia to return to world sport. Putin continues his criminal war with horrendous cruelty against the civilian population of Ukraine. the Russian military kills countless Ukrainians every day, including many athletes“.

Earlier, FACTS reported that five-time Olympic champion Martin Fourcade stood up for exiled athletes from Russia and Belarus.