As per the report, if Russian athletes are to compete again, the sports world must address two critical challenges that emerged in the aftermath of the invasion: How can Russian sportsmen return to Ukraine without offending the Ukrainian people? What can be done about Russians who back the war?
During the initial part of the war, the Ukrainian fencing team refused to compete against Russia in an Egyptian tournament. A year later, one of the most significant impediments to Russia’s return to sports is Ukraine’s determination on boycotting rather than risking handing its adversary a propaganda victory or further hurting Ukrainian sportsmen damaged by the war, the report says. Some European countries have threatened to boycott the Olympics if Russians are permitted to compete.
What Does IOC Say?
Certain athletes’ acts are a distinct matter, as per the report. When standing on the podium next to the Ukrainian champion during an event in Qatar last March, Russian gymnast Ivan Kuliak affixed a “Z” symbol to his chest, replicating a marking used on the country’s military vehicles. He was barred for a year.
The IOC now says it will not support the return of any Russian athlete who has “acted against the peace mission of the IOC by actively supporting the war in Ukraine,” but hasn’t defined what that means in practice.
As the Paris Olympics come into view, the IOC has shifted its emphasis to what it says is its duty to avoid discriminating against anyone based on nationality, and to create a path for Russians and Belarusians to compete as neutral athletes without national symbols. Safety concerns might be avoided, the IOC says, if Russia and Belarus were to compete in events in Asia, including Olympic qualifiers at the Asian Games in China.
When Were Russian Athletes Banned?
In reaction to the Russian incursion, sports organisations acted quickly last year. Russia was stripped of the right to host the Champions League final in men’s soccer and the Russian Grand Prix in Formula One just one day after tanks poured into Ukraine, Associated Press reported. After four days, the IOC recommended that Russian and Belarusian athletes be barred from participating in events “to maintain the integrity of global sports competitions and the safety of all participants.”
At the time, the Russian men’s national soccer team was in the World Cup playoffs, seeking to qualify for last year’s tournament in Qatar, but Poland refused to play them. Russia was therefore kicked out of the competition, despite hosting the tournament in 2018 and reaching the quarterfinals.
The Opposition
More than 30 states issued a statement Monday urging the IOC to define the term of “neutrality” as it seeks a method to reintroduce Russian and Belarussian athletes into international sports and, ultimately, next year’s Paris Olympics, said a report by USA Today.
Officials from the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Canada, and Germany signed the letter. These five countries sent approximately one-fifth of all athletes to the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.
The letter was the result of a Feb. 10 summit in London between government officials, during which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was present. Russian athletes, according to Zelenskyy, have no place at the Paris Games as long as the country’s invasion of Ukraine continues.
While conceding that they may compete as neutral athletes, the government officials underlined in their joint letter how strongly sports and politics are entwined in Russia and Belarus, the report said.
“We have strong concerns on how feasible it is for Russian and Belarusian Olympic athletes to compete as ‘neutrals’ — under the IOC’s conditions of no identification with their country — when they are directly funded and supported by their states (unlike, for example, professional tennis players),” the letter said. “The strong links and affiliations between Russian athletes and the Russian military are also of clear concern. Our collective approach throughout has therefore never been one of discrimination simply on the basis of nationality, but these strong concerns need to be dealt with by the IOC,” the report said.
With inputs from the Associated Press
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