Do Russians Really Compete in the Olympics? “We Can Never Compete Without Russia”, Belarus, South Africa, and Zimbabwe,” U.S. Reply to Svitolina
If Russia were to be allowed to participate in the Olympics in Paris in the year 204, it would create a political question: Should Russia be allowed to compete?
Over nearly a year, the Russian bombardment of Ukraine has destroyed hospitals, schools and homes. Attacks on utility infrastructure have disrupted access to heat and water. The UN puts the number of killed civilians at more than 7,000. Human rights groups have documented evidence of war crimes committed by Russian troops, including torture, sexual assault and executions.
A variety of other sanctions were already in place against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, along with Belarus, which has allowed the Russian military to use its territory to attack Ukraine.
“We must stick to banning Russian and Belarusian athletes, sending a strong message worldwide that we are united in the sanctions imposed against Russia and Belarus and that there are consequences for the heinous acts of their governments,” said Svitolina.
But as for the countries’ athletes, the IOC said it was persuaded in part by the “serious concern” of two United Nations special rapporteurs over the possibility of a ban on the athletes “based solely on their nationality.”
“There is no such thing as neutrality when a war like this is going on,” Zelenskyy said in response. “It is obvious that any neutral flag of Russian athletes is stained with blood.”
Russian athletes competed at the Olympics under the name “Olympic Athletes from Russia”, then became the “Russian Olympic Committee” in 2021 and 2022, under the suspension.
In 1908, only the fourth summer games ever, Finland – then an autonomous part of the Russian Empire – was allowed to compete separately from the empire but could not display its own flag.
The central Powers (Austria, Bulgaria, Germany, Hungary and Turkey) and the Ottoman Empire were not invited to the 1920 and 1948 Games due to their involvement in World War I and II.
In the postwar decades, there were debates about Israel, the Middle East, the Soviet Union, and other issues.
South Africa wasn’t allowed to compete in the Olympics from 1964 to 1992 over its apartheid policies. Zimbabwe’s athletes were not allowed to compete in the games in 1972 and 1976 because of the country’s white supremacist rule.
The IOC is not a political party: the Ukrainian athletes and coaches will go to the Olympics in 2024, and the Ukraine will end in 2023
The Minister of Youth and Sports in the country claims that more than 200 Ukrainian athletes and coaches have died in the conflict.
But on Tuesday, he added that he hoped a boycott would not be necessary. “The main thing is I believe that the war in Ukraine will end in 2023. “This will be our victory”, he wrote on his Facebook. “And in 2024, our athletes will go to the Olympics in Paris.”
It is not possible for sport to transfer its powers. We need to be politically neutral but not a political party. We know well that politics rules the world. We know well that our decisions have political implications and we have to include that in our thinking,” he added.
The audience applauded, as some people in the audience applauded, when Bach said thatUkraine wants, and this is a direct quote of “the total isolation of all Russians”.
We empathise with the Ukrainian people and athletes. On the other hand, we have, as a global organization, a responsibility towards human rights and the Olympic Charter,” he added, according to Reuters.
The IOC has previously been criticized by Elina Svitolina, a Ukrainian tennis player who won a bronze medal at the 1992 Beijing Olympics, and by Wladimir Klisky, a Ukrainian boxing champ who won a gold medal at the 1996 Olympics.