Arto Bryggare marvels at the Russia speeches: “It’s popular now”

The team of the Russian Olympic Committee is aiming for the Paris Olympics in 2024. PDO

Iltalehti’s athletics expert Arto Bryggare has followed the discussion in Finland about the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and Russia with amazement.

The IOC has hinted at the possibility of bringing Russian and Belarusian athletes back to international competition fields as “neutral athletes”, i.e. without national symbols. This could happen, for example, at the Paris Olympics in 2024.

The IOC’s plan has received a lot of criticism in Finland and elsewhere in the world.

However, Bryggare would like people to be able to look at the situation more comprehensively and put themselves in the shoes of the other parties, instead of chasing after the IOC – even if he himself is not in favor of the return of the Russians.

– I don’t want to participate in a competition about who barks the hardest in the IOC, because there is one going on right now, says Bryggare.

– Now it is popular to attack the IOC together. I’m a bit disappointed with the whole process.

“Easy to say”

According to Bryggare, the IOC’s desire to get Russian athletes back on the competition fields is completely understandable. In his opinion, athletes should not suffer from Russia’s military actions.

– It is easy for us here to say that the Russians aside. For athletes, this is a terrible situation in any case.

Russian athletes can express two different opinions about the war in public, but neither of them is really useful for them.

They can either “accept” the brutal war of aggression in Ukraine and watch the horrible situation continue, or “condemn” the war and suffer the consequences of their words.

According to Bryggare, Finns expect athletes to completely blindly condemn the war.

– They get sympathy from us here, that “good job, hard work!” There is a risk of losing your life, or at least going to jail.

France in broth

If the IOC wants to bring Russia back to the stage of value competitions, it needs approval from other parties as well – if only because of the financial requirements of the Games.

– We must remember that the international Olympic movement enjoys strong global tax payer support. No race that is organized can be successful with sponsor euros alone, even though they are terrible, Bryggare reminds.

– The games require enormous support from the national state, and then the state’s attitude towards the global environment must be taken into account.

Thus, for example, France is now in a difficult position, because it has to organize the next Summer Olympics.

– I don’t think that people in France are terribly happy about Russia’s attack on Ukraine. It can be difficult to market games where the IOC pushes Russians into them. There are big risks in that, Bryggare estimates.

According to Bryggare, a “neutral flag” and the removal of national emblems would not benefit anything. Vice versa.

– Yes, it is the case that the athletes then emphatically represent Russia and Belarus. In the information society, however, it is underlined.

A boycott threatens

According to Bryggare, it is absolutely certain that a wave of boycotts will start in athletics the second the Russians are allowed to compete in international games while the war is still going on.

– Finland will also be in a tight spot for the first time if the Russians march to the Paris Games, Bryggare states.

The ex-hurdle runner himself has experience with boycotts in athletics competitions. In 1980, as many as 47 countries boycotted the Moscow Olympics under the leadership of the United States citing the world political situation. Four years later, 14 countries boycotted the US Olympics, led by the Soviet Union.

These political statements did not bring the desired result.

– The 1980 and 1984 boycotts went completely wrong. They did not achieve anything that would contribute to peace, Bryggare recalls.

– The boycotts had no other effect than that the athletes suffered. The dreams of a generation were trashed.