The start of so-called neutral athletes from Russia and Belarus at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris moved a step closer on Tuesday (December 5th, 2023).
As the International Olympic Committee announced in a statement, representatives of the international summer sports associations and national Olympic committees had campaigned for the admission of athletes from the aggressor countries in the Ukraine war.
The representatives of the invited associations at the 12th Olympic Summit also pushed the pace, they had “for a decision as quickly as possible” asked, as the IOC release says, for “Clarity in the Olympic qualification process and for all athletes affected“. Recently, the German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB), which was not represented at the Olympic Summit, changed course and followed the line of most NOCs and world professional associations.
Clear opinion: athletes not responsible for war activities
The sports world, this impression is conveyed, agrees. Especially since the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) had already submitted a proposal at the end of September and invited neutral Russians to Paris. A decision by the IOC regarding admission to the Summer Olympic Games beginning on July 26, 2024, the “only under the existing strict conditions” is conceivable, according to the IOCCommunique Although I still didn’t like it. And yet it seems as if the backroom meeting is in Lausanne the way was finally paved for the “yes” from Thomas Bach and the Ringe organization.
Especially since there is also the support of the active participants: the chairwoman of the IOC Athletes Commission Emma Terho announced that “the vast majority of athletes worldwide“I am of the opinion that”Athletes should not be punished for the actions of their governments“. The former Finnish ice hockey player also emphasized at the summit with invited guests at the IOC headquarters that the athletes “would welcome clarity as to whether individual neutral athletes can compete in Paris and what conditions apply to their participation“.
The conditions for Russian and Belarusian athletes
Athletes from Russia and Belarus have been sanctioned in a variety of sports since Russia’s attack on Ukraine in February 2022. In the course of 2023, according to a corresponding “Recommendation“The IOC on March 28th eased restrictions in a number of Olympic sports, allowing Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete again under certain conditions.
These include: neutral status without flag or anthem, no ties to the military, compliance with anti-doping rules. Regarding the latter, the IOC, which invited the President of the World Anti-Doping Agency, Witold Banka, to Lausanne, stated: “This year, more than 10,500 samples were taken from Russian athletes in and out of competition, although the number of neutral individual athletes participating in international competitions is extremely small. This means that Russia remains one of the ten most frequently tested nations.”
Tensions between IOC and Russia
Even the recent dispute between the IOC and Russia is unlikely to prevent Olympic approval. The IOC Executive Board suspended the ROC due to the inclusion of regional sports associations in occupied Ukrainian territories in the Russian National Olympic Committee (ROC).
The decision on October 5 to admit the regional sports associations of Kherson, Donetsk, Luhansk and Zaporizhia violated the Olympic Charter because it disregarded the territorial integrity of the Ukrainian Olympic Committee, it was said.
The Olympic summit also condemned the Kremlin’s plans to hold so-called “World Friendship Games“To be held in Moscow and Yekaterinburg. The multi-sport event is “clearly politically motivated“, the statement said. The Olympic governing bodies emphasized their desire that results from this event should not receive official recognition.