Ukrainian athletes, very tough with the IOC for Russia: “It’s still on the wrong side of history”

Just as the deaths and bombings on Ukrainian soil do not stop growing before the invasion carried out by Russia almost a year ago, the political-diplomatic-war escalation has reached the biggest comparison between the Olympic Committee of Ukraine and his country’s athletes against the International Olympic Committee and the figure of its president, the German Thomas Bach. The basis is the IOC’s intention to allow Russians and Belarusians to compete Paris 2024 as “neutral”, with no flag or anthem.

“The IOC rewards Putin’s aggression by ignoring the death and destruction of his victims. The IOC must choose sides in this war”, wrote the Ukrainian athletes in an open letter published yesterday in Global Athlete.

To make matters worse, the Ukrainian Olympic Committee released a January 31 email from Bach, in which he stated that that committee’s request “does not enjoy the support or solidarity of the vast majority of parties making up the Olympic movement and that boycotts they did not achieve their political goals and only served to punish the athletes.”

The diffusion of these words of Bach took place on the eve of the conference that this Friday will bring together in London and virtually the sport ministers of 30-40 countries in relation to the attitude to adopt if Russians and Belarusians go to Paris. Poland, the Czech Republic, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia have warned of this they will boycott the Games if Russians and Belarusians go. just like that

“Russia’s war of aggression has cost hundreds of thousands of lives, destroyed infrastructure, threatened the stability of the world’s food supply and posed the risk of a nuclear catastrophe. In welcoming Russian athletes to the Olympic Games, the IOC rewards Russia’s actions. Threatening to punish Ukraine’s NOC for refusing to compete against Russia in the Olympic Games, the IOC is denying Ukraine’s right to sovereignty”, wrote the Ukrainian athletes.

“What solidarity does the IOC offer? Solidarity is unity with a common interest: Ukrainians are not interested in seeing war criminals participate in the Games under the guise of a neutral flagthey added.

And his arguments expand formidably in that open letter as never before. Above all to put an end once and for all to the cliché according to which politics and sport shouldn’t be mixed.

“Uniting the world through peaceful competition is a utopian vision that denies the role of sport in geopolitics and it ignores the way sport is routinely used as a tool of authoritarian states. The Russian state was a prime example, using the home Olympic Games in 2014 and a state-sponsored anti-doping program build goodwill at home and abroad before annexing Crimea -the athletes detail-. In 2022 it did the same, using the Beijing (Winter) Games to strengthen its ties with China before invading Ukraine. Russia promoted athletes to senior military positions and touted sporting achievements as signs of Russian superiority. These actions were possible because Russia manipulated and controlled sports governing bodies for its own benefit.”

Since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in late February 2022, Russian and Belarusian athletes have been barred from most world events. But the IOC lit the fuse in late January, proposing a roadmap to organize the return of those athletes under a neutral flag, provided they “have not actively supported the war in Ukraine”. Such a position is unacceptable for Kiev.

“How many athletes from those countries are in the military? How many are subsidized by the state? How will the IOC determine which athletes will support the war? For Russia and Belarus there is no distinction between athlete and state. We can take away their flags, anthems and other identification documents, but nothing can change their identity as representatives of their governments,” wrote the Ukrainian athletes.

The mayor of Paris Anna Hidalgo, on a visit to Kiev, spoke out against the participation of Russian athletes “as long as Russia continues to wage war on Ukraine”. And the French government wants the IOC to pronounce itself before the end of the northern summer on the matter.

“The IOC is still on the wrong side of history and his letter is further proof of the power Russia has over the Olympic organization and movement. Sponsors, host cities and national governments must stop tolerating the IOC bowing to Russia. It’s time for the IOC to be held accountable”, concluded the Ukrainian athletes.

Sport, as always, is the scene of existential and political dilemmas. That’s how the story goes.