Athletes from Russia and Belarus have been banned from many sports competitions after the Russian attack on Ukraine. The International Bobsleigh and Sled Federation IBSF announced the suspension of the Russian federation on March 2nd. However, the suspension was lifted last week by the International Federation’s Arbitration Board.
For Andreas Trautvetter, President of the German Bobsleigh and Sled Association and Vice-President of the world association, this decision came as little surprise, as he said in an interview with Deutschlandfunk. The arbitral tribunal lifted the suspension for purely formal reasons, stressed Trautvetter, not because of an evaluation of the content.
After reviewing the statutes, it was unclear whether the Executive Committee of the world association had the authority to make this decision. The suspension of associations should actually be decided by the congress, according to the view of the arbitral tribunal.
Trautvetter: Suspension at the latest at the upcoming association congress
Trautvetter is “one hundred percent sure” that the proposal to suspend the Russian federation will get the necessary two-thirds majority at the upcoming congress before the start of the World Cup winter. “In terms of content and morality, the actions of the Executive Committee were justified. We will get the justification that we acted in accordance with the law at the congress.”
However, the Executive Committee will revise the statutes and clarify open questions by then, also in order to make a renewed decision legally watertight. For example, only individual members could currently be suspended for criminal behavior – but not entire associations representing states that are responsible for a war of aggression that violates international law, for example. The International Toboggan Federation has done this and decided to change the statutes accordingly.
Trautvetter: “Punish genocide no less than doping”
According to Trautvetter, one has to accept that sports associations and activists are being punished for criminal acts by those in power in their home country. There were also examples in other countries of courageous athletes who distanced themselves from it and looked for their future abroad. These athletes would always have a future in competitive sports.
On the question of how to deal with Russia’s sport and the proportionality of sanctions, Trautvetter referred to the anti-doping fight – and the clear regulations that apply there: Doping is a form of fraud, whoever cheats twice will be banned for life. “What Russia is doing in Ukraine is a war of aggression in violation of international law, mass murder and genocide. The proportionality of the means must be maintained. I can punish this no less than fraud.”
For Trautvetter, Russia’s participation in international competitions and events of the IBSF is therefore out of the question as long as Russia’s occupation of Ukraine continues and no peace negotiations are started.
IOC reference to political neutrality “unjustified”
On Deutschlandfunk, Trautvetter also criticized the “lax attitude” of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), which has so far only recommended excluding athletes from Russia and Belarus. If this is not organizationally possible, they should compete under a neutral flag.
As a member of the executive committee of the world association, he feels “left alone by the IOC”. In the case of behavior contrary to international law, it is “no longer justified to be politically neutral”. Trautvetter expects the IOC to take a clear position. The behavior of states in which human rights are not respected must be sanctioned. Also when awarding major international events, which could then no longer be held there.