IOC hits back over push to ban Russians from Paris Olympics
The International Olympic Committee has clapped back over renewed calls to ban Russian athletes from competing at the Paris Games.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has clapped back over renewed calls to ban athletes from Russia and Belarus from competing at next year's Olympic Games, after acknowledging that stars from those countries could be welcomed in Paris. The IOC insists there are no plans for "a Russian or Belarusian delegation” at the 2024 Games, but stopped short of supporting calls from Paris Mayor, Anne Hidalgo, to ban Russian and Belarusian athletes from competing.
The Paris Mayor said no Russians or Belarusians should be allowed to compete at next year's Olympics because of the involvement of their countries in the war in Ukraine. Olympic leaders have set out a path for athletes from Russia and Belarus who have not actively supported the war to try to qualify and compete as “neutral athletes” without a national identity such as team uniforms, flags and anthems.
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A similar situation has played out at sporting events around the world, including this year's Australian Open, where Russian and Belarusian flags were banned and athletes from those countries competed as neutrals. Controversy erupted after Belarusian Arya Sabalenka won the women's singles title, with the name of her country left off the engraving on the trophy.
The Mayor of Paris last month said that she was in favour of Russia competing under a neutral banner, but has changed stance. “It is not possible to parade as if nothing had happened, to have a delegation that comes to Paris while the bombs continue to rain down on Ukraine,” Hidalgo said this week.
Olympic bodies and lawmakers in the Baltic and Nordic regions of Europe have also publicly supported Ukraine in standing against the IOC’s preferred route. They have warned of a possible boycott, and are expected to join an online call of sports ministers hosted by the British government on Friday.
Russian athletes have avoided being banned outright from the past four Olympics dating back to 2016, in the wake of the country's state-backed doping scandal. At the past three Olympics, Russia competed without their national identity but in uniforms that clearly identified them as Russians. The first decision for the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Games was by the IOC, and judges at the Court of Arbitration for Sport decided conditions for Russians at the Tokyo Olympics held in 2021 and the 2022 Beijing Winter Games.
However, the IOC has cited advice from a human rights expert that banning athletes on the basis of their passport would be discrimination. In response to the fresh calls around banning Russia, the governing body has reiterated that stance.
“There are no plans for a Russian or Belarusian delegation or the flags of these countries at the Olympic Games Paris 2024,” the Olympic body said. “The only option that could be considered are individual, neutral athletes like we have seen last year at the French Open in tennis and recently again at the Australian Open in tennis and in other professional sports.”
Calls grow louder for ban on Russians at Paris Games
Tennis and cycling are among the few sports to let Russian and Belarusian athletes continue to compete without their country’s name, flag or anthem. Though the IOC guided Olympic sports bodies last February toward excluding Russians and Belarusians from international events, that position eased as qualifying ramps up for the Paris Olympics.
World heavyweight boxing champion Oleksandr Usyk is also among the high-profile voices calling for a ban on Russian and Belarusian athletes. The Ukrainian sporting icon says any medals they win in Paris will be “medals of blood”.
Oleksandr Usyk 🥊 👑 nahrál video pro předsedu MOV @thomasbach76 ... už opravdu nevím, kdo víc by měl MOV @iocmedia oslovit a říct jim na plnou pusu, ať táhnou do pekla. Nebo do russka, to je stejné. Ale nejlíp do #Bachmut 😠 Anglické titulky dole... @hasek_dominik @DarPutinovi pic.twitter.com/FHWARHcJxg
— Paula (@Paula44212447) February 8, 2023
In a direct video message to IOC president Thomas Bach posted on his official Instagram account, Usyk said: “You want to allow Russian athletes to compete at the Olympics. “Russian Armed Forces invaded our country and kill civilians. Russian army is killing Ukrainian athletes and coaches and destroying sports grounds as well as sports halls.
“The medals that Russian athletes are going to win are medals of blood, death and tears. Let me wish you to have peaceful sky above you and to be in good health and happy.”
Final decisions on the possible eligibility of athletes will rest with the governing bodies of individual sports. The umbrella group of Summer Olympic sports, known as ASOIF, will meet on March 3 to discuss the issue.
The French government does not rule out a potential “sanction” against Russia at the Paris Olympics, spokesperson Olivier Veran said this week. “So far, no official decision has been made with the IOC” regarding the Paris Olympics, Veran said. “But you know that France has been consistently in favour of fully and completely applying any sanction.”
with agencies
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