IOC issues recommendations for Russian athletes' return to competitions
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[March 29, 2023]
LAUSANNE, Switzerland (Reuters) -The International Olympic
Committee (IOC) on Tuesday issued recommendations for the gradual
return to international competitions for Russian and Belarusian
athletes as neutrals, with President Thomas Bach saying their
participation "works" despite the war in Ukraine.
The IOC Executive Board's recommendations concern the return of
those athletes to international competitions but not the 2024 Paris
Olympics where a separate decision will be taken at a later date.
However, the recommendations triggered angry reactions from
countries opposed to Russian and Belarusian participation as well as
from Russia, whose Olympic Committee chief, Stanislav Pozdnyakov,
called them "absolutely unacceptable."
Bach told a news conference after the IOC meeting: "Sports
organisations must have the sole responsibility to decide which
athletes can take part in international competitions based on their
sporting merits and not on political grounds or because of their
passports."
He said the recommendations for events organisers and sports
federations to follow included that Russian and Belarusian athletes
can only compete as neutrals, with no flag or anthem.
They cannot take part in team events and must have a proven drugs
testing record, while athletes who support the war or are contracted
to their countries' military or national security agency are
excluded.
These recommendations do not include the 2024 Olympics and the
potential participation of Russia and Belarus, Bach said.
"The IOC will take this decision at the appropriate time at its full
discretion, without being bound by results of previous Olympic
qualifiers," Bach said. He did not say when the IOC would take that
decision.
The IOC had sanctioned Russia and Belarus after the February 2022
invasion of Ukraine, which Moscow calls a 'special military
operation', but it is now eager to see athletes come back across all
sports and have a chance to qualify for the Paris Games.
It has set out a pathway for these competitors to earn Olympic slots
through Asian qualifying but has faced headwinds, with Ukraine
threatening to boycott next year's Olympics should they compete
there, even as neutrals.
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'DAY OF SHAME'
Poland, a neighbour to Ukraine, reacted angrily to the IOC's
recommendations, calling it a "day of shame" for the Olympic body.
"What happened that was so positive from the Russian side that their
athletes should take part in competitions!!," Polish Deputy Foreign
Minister Piotr Wawrzyk tweeted.
"After Bucha, Irpin, Hostomel!! After daily bombing of civilian
targets!! It's a day of shame for the IOC!!"
Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky said Russia had no place in the
Olympics.
"I am disappointed by the IOC recommendations," Lipavsky wrote on
Twitter. "We must not close our eyes to reality. Russian sport is
centrally managed by the Kremlin. The Russian regime does not know
what fair play is."
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International Olympic Committee (IOC)
President Thomas Bach attends the opening of the Executive Board
meeting at the Olympic House in Lausanne, Switzerland, March 28,
2023. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse
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"Its athletes do not belong in the Olympic Games.
We will continue to deal with this issue, including with the expert
group (Czech Olympic Committee)."
Russia was also fuming, with its athletes now having to compete
without the nation's flags, emblems or anthems.
"The parameters as announced are absolutely unacceptable," Russian
Olympic Committee president Pozdnyakov told a news conference,
according to Russian news agencies.
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PARTICIPATION WORKS
Bach had earlier told the IOC Executive Board that Russian and
Belarusian athletes were already competing daily in many sports
without facing problems.
"Participation of athletes with Russian and Belarusian passports in
international competitions works," Bach told the board at the start
of the meeting at the IOC headquarters in Lausanne.
"We see this almost every day in a number of sports, most
prominently in tennis but also in cycling, in some table tennis
competitions."
"In none of these competition security incidents have been
happening."
World Athletics, the biggest Olympic crowd-puller, last week decided
to keep Russians and Belarusians banned from all of their events for
the foreseeable future due to the Ukraine war, going against the
IOC.
A dozen countries boycotted this month's women's world boxing
championships in protest at the presence of Russians and Belarusians
at the event.
More than 300 fencers wrote to Bach to ask the IOC to reconsider
allowing them back, calling it a "catastrophic error" should Russia
and Belarus return.
Germany's elite athletes' grouping Athleten Deutschland on Tuesday
also pitched in, calling on the IOC to ban them completely for the
duration of the war.
Bach said politics could not be part of sports competitions and
athletes should not be punished for their passports.
"We will not be able to come up with a solution which pleases
everyone. With this we may have to live."
(Reporting by Karolos Grohmann; Additional reporting by Ron Popeski,
Jan Lopatka in Prague and Alan Charlish in Warsaw Editing by Sharon
Singleton, Christian Radnedge and Ken Ferris)
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