Olympic chiefs were urged by five of Russia’s neighbors to rule on Tuesday that all Russians should be barred from participating in the Paris Games.
The call from the governments of Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland and Ukraine risks going unheeded.
International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach has insisted in recent weeks that Russians should not be discriminated against because of their nationality – regardless of their Vladimir Poutineis the ongoing war against Ukraine.
This is a softening of Mr. Bach’s position after the launch of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, when a blanket ban on Russians was favored – using the authority of the Olympic Charter to deny entry to any athlete without explanation.
But the IOC’s new will to let the Russians at Paris 2024 compete as neutrals was rejected last week by World Athletics – the biggest Olympic sport imposing a complete ban as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wanted.
The matter is being discussed again by the IOC Executive Board on Tuesday – on the agenda as a review of input from athletes and sports consulted as well as Olympic officials around the world.
While the IOC’s position has not been officially agreed for Paris, Bach made his position clear in Germany last week: “If politics decides who can compete, then sport and athletes become political tools.
It was a rebuke to politicians, including in Britain, demanding that no athlete from Russia – or a Belarusian wartime ally – receive the Olympics platform.
Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland and Ukraine reminded the IOC on Monday that civilian infrastructure attacked by the Russian military includes sports facilities and said: “Many Ukrainian athletes are still prevented from participating in sporting events due to Russia’s attack on their country.”
The governments provided a way for Russians and Belarusians to return to international sport: “End the war of aggression launched by Russia, with the complicity of Belarus, and restore respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine within internationally recognized borders.”
The IOC has sought the advice of the UN Special Rapporteur for Cultural Rights, Alexandra Xanthaki, who last week spoke to 188 athletes from around the world.
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Allowing Russian athletes to compete ‘do more for peace’ – IOC boss
The international law expert even opened up the possibility of Russian soldiers being allowed into Paris 2024, proposing that neutrality status should only be denied to those accused of “war crimes, genocide, crimes against humanity or propaganda for war”.
She pointed out that people can be drafted into combat and are just “following orders”.
But Ukrainian athletes dispute his analysis.
A boycott of the Games has been launched but not directly threatened by countries exasperated by the IOC’s position.
For now, the focus is on persuading the IOC to reverse course again.
Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland and Ukraine said in their joint statement: “We would like to emphasize that it is not the nationality of the athletes that determines their role, but the fact that they are sponsored /supported by their governments or companies that support the Kremlin regime, which continues its war of aggression against Ukraine, or they are directly affiliated with the Russian military.”
