Not Olympic behaviour: Why the IOC is pushing for Russians and Belarusians to take part in the Olympics

For months now there has been an ongoing dispute over whether to allow athletes from Russia and Belarus to participate in the upcoming Olympic Games to be held in Paris in 2024.

The answer would seem obvious - after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine and the destruction they have caused and continue to cause, these countries should be isolated at all levels in all spheres. However, the sporting world does not think so. In particular, International Olympic Committee (IOC) head Thomas Bach is particularly sympathetic to Russian and Belarusian athletes and believes that they should be allowed to compete under a neutral flag at the upcoming Olympics.

Our goal is to allow athletes with Russian passports who do not support the war to compete again. But it is not easy.

The IOC, with Bach at the helm, said it had won broad support from athlete representatives, sports federations and national Olympic committees for its proposal to allow Russian and Belarusian athletes to return to competition under "strict conditions".

Under these "strict conditions", athletes from Russia and Belarus must demonstrate a "clear commitment" to the Olympic Charter and possibly not "violate the IOC's peacekeeping mission by actively supporting the war in Ukraine". The flag, anthem, colours or other identifying marks of Russia or Belarus would remain banned, meaning athletes would compete under a neutral flag. Government or government officials from both countries would not be allowed to attend or be accredited to the events in question.

A good example of what participation by Russian and Belarusian athletes under a "neutral flag" might look like was the Australia Open tennis championships held in late January 2023. The organisers allowed athletes from these countries to compete, but on the condition that they did not use their national symbols. But there was no talk of fans. As a result, fans wearing T-shirts with pictures of Putin and Russian flags arrived on the first day of the match, where the Ukrainian played against the Russian. After the incident the Ukrainian Ambassador to Australia intervened. Russia

And yet during the quarter-final, during the match between Novak Djokovic of Serbia and Andrei Rublev of Russia, a man appeared wearing a T-shirt with "Z" written on it to symbolise Russia's war against Ukraine. And outside the stadium was a group of people with flags of Russia, the so-called DNR and Serbia

So while the IOC wants to present Russians and Belarusians as neutral athletes, it is unlikely that it can fully enforce this neutrality.

All these statements are made against the background of the fact that 320 Ukrainian sports facilities have been damaged by Russian aggression, 87 of them have been destroyed, and losses in sports infrastructure have exceeded $250m.

Mr Bach believes that athletes of the aggressor countries are not to blame for the war, because Putin unleashed it, and athletes must perform on a par with Ukrainians and teams of other civilised countries.

Andrei Yermak, in his article for The Athletic, says that allowing Russian athletes in Paris 2024 would be a "disaster".

In the same article, he recalls 1936, when the IOC, already aware of Hitler's "Aryan" views and the Nazi regime's open discrimination against Jews and other "non-Aryans", held the Olympics in Berlin anyway, instead of condemning Hitler and moving the games to another country. Yermak says that the IOC is now making the same mistake.

The IOC does not seem to understand this important point even now. In late January it opened the way for athletes from Russia and Belarus to participate in the 2024 Olympics in Paris as neutral participants, offering to "further explore opportunities" for Russian and Belarusian athletes. This disastrous decision is confirmation of the brutal war of aggression against Ukraine.

Other Ukrainian politicians also reacted to Bach's position. Vadym Gutzeit, Ukrainian Minister of Youth and Sports and president of the NOC of Ukraine, called for athletes from Russia and Belarus not to be allowed to compete in the Paris Olympics.

Because of Russia's war in Ukraine, sport is no longer outside politics! As long as enemy missiles are killing civilians, destroying homes and civilian infrastructure in our country, we demand and will demand that all international organizations impose sanctions against representatives of the aggressor countries.

gutzeit also sent a letter to the NOCs of 206 countries calling for all possible measures to prevent athletes from the aggressor countries from entering the 2024 Olympic Games.

He also said Ukraine could boycott the games if the Russians and Belarusians are allowed to compete. However, this ultimatum did not impress Bach, who only responded coolly:

We know the point of view of Ukraine, which not only wants to isolate Russia as a state, but also to isolate all Russians.

For his part, Volodymyr Zelenski invited Thomas Bach to Bakhmut to see for himself whether neutrality exists.

Ukrainian athletes are forced to defend the lives of their loved ones and the freedom of our nation from Russian aggression. Russian strikes have taken the lives of hundreds and hundreds of Ukrainians and Ukrainian women who could enrich world sport with their talent. I invite Mr. Bach to Bakhmut so that he can see with his own eyes that neutrality does not exist.

While the IOC head pities the "poor" and "unfortunate" Russian and Belarussian athletes for not being able to compete, the Ukrainian athletes are giving their lives in this war.

According to Prime Minister Denis Shmygal, more than 200 Ukrainian athletes and coaches were killed during the war.

Furthermore, the question is whether Russian athletes can be neutral at all. After all, many of them are affiliated with the Russian army, Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba recalled. According to him, 45 of 75 Russian medalists at the Tokyo Olympics in 2020 are members of the central sports club of the Russian army.

The IOC's contradictory peacekeeping desire to shelter the Belarusians and Russians, albeit under a neutral flag, has not only provoked protests from the Ukrainian side.

For the time being, a coalition of 35 countries, including in particular the USA, Germany, France, Great Britain and Japan, has been formed, which agreed to demand that Russian and Belarusian athletes be barred from taking part in the 2024 Olympic Games.

The decision on a potential ban of Russian and Belarussian athletes is yet to be made by the governing bodies of individual sports. The summer Olympic sports group, known as ASOIF, will meet on March 3 to discuss the issue.

Obviously, it is not crucial for Russia that their athletes compete under the national flag and that the Russian national anthem is played. What is important for Russia is the very presence of their athletes. It legitimises Russia and Belarus. It blurs the focus on their war crimes. The performances of Russians and Belarusians and their eventual victories will show that not all Russians are bad. Not all are to blame for this war. Such "ennobling" in the eyes of the world public may slow down the culture of Russian withdrawal, which has yet to gain the scale it needs. And that is exactly t

Therefore, it is obvious that Russia and Belarus will try by all means to get their athletes to participate in the Olympics. Given Russia's assertiveness and willingness to use all means to achieve the goal, the aggressor country has a chance to get its way.