Latvia has become the first country to back Ukraine's threat to boycott next year's Olympics in Paris if Russian and Belarusian athletes are allowed to compete as "neutrals" while war continues to rage.
“For as long as there is an ongoing war in Ukraine, participation of the Russian and Belarusian athletes in the Olympic Games under any flag is unacceptable,” Latvian Olympic Committee president Zorzs Tikmers said on Wednesday.
Latvia's move came less than a week after the International Olympic Committee (IOC) – which has overall control of the Games – said it wants to let competitors from Russia and its ally Belarus take part in the quadrennial event.
The National Olympic Committees (NOCs), which send the teams, have mostly backed the IOC's stance.
But Tikmers upped the ante this week. The former Olympic rower said Latvia should boycott Olympic qualifying competitions, which are underway in some sports, if Russians or Belarusians are allowed in.
"NOC Latvia deems unacceptable for Latvian teams and individual athletes to participate in such international sports competitions that have not expelled Russian and Belarusian athletes from the participation, including the Olympic qualifications competitions," he said.
Latvia, which borders Russia, called on international sports bodies as well as countries including Britain, France and Canada to speak out against Russia's involvement and stop the country and Belarus from gaining “soft power” through sports.
Last week, the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky condemned any attempt to incorporate athletes from the countries. "Any neutral flag for Russia would be stained with blood," he said.
Other countries divided
However, a huge fight looms behind the scenes.
The United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee backs the IOC's efforts to find a path to compete for Russians or Belarusians who have not been actively supporting the war in Ukraine.
The IOC also has cited human rights concerns at the United Nations that athletes must not face discrimination based solely on their passport.
Zelensky last week invited the IOC boss Thomas Bach to to visit Bakhmut, a wrecked city on the war’s frontline.
And Zelensky's adviser Mykhailo Podolyak issued a critical tweet.
#IOC is a promoter of war, murder & destruction. The IOC watches with pleasure RF destroying 🇺🇦 & then offers 🇷🇺 a platform to promote genocide & encourages their further killings.
— Михайло Подоляк (@Podolyak_M) January 30, 2023
Obviously ru-money that buys Olympic hypocrisy doesn’t have a smell of 🇺🇦 blood. Right, Mr. #Bach?
The IOC in turn lambasted Podolyak's comments, saying they “cannot serve as a basis for any constructive discussion”.
'History will judge you'
But the IOC's drive to have all 206 national teams competing in Paris next year while maintaining calm will come under increasing pressure.
On Monday, Wladimir Klitschko, Ukraine's former boxing champion, suggested in a video message that sports administrators would be accomplices to Russia's invasion of Ukraine if Russian and Belarusian athletes competed.
Klitschko's statement, filmed beside bomb-damaged buildings, was addressed directly to Bach, telling the IOC boss: “The world is watching you, history will judge you. Good luck with your decision.”
While key Olympic sports like track and field and swimming excluded Russians and Belarusians soon after the war started, tennis and cycling have allowed the athletes to compete as neutrals.
