A member of the UK government has condemned the proposed decision to allow Russian athletes to compete at the 2024 Olympic Games.
The IOC met this week and stated they are exploring the potential for Russians to be allowed to compete as neutral athletes in Paris. A statement from the IOC said “no athlete should be prevented from competing just because of their passport”. It added: “Governments must not decide which athletes can participate in which competition and which athletes cannot."
Culture Secretary Michelle Donelan slammed the statement and claimed the IOC is out of touch with reality for announcing the move amid ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine. “At this critical time, the International Olympic Committee is now looking at a pathway for Russia and Belarus to be represented in Paris," she said.
“I want to be clear that this position from the IOC is a world away from the reality of war being felt by the Ukrainian people. IOC President Bach’s own words less than a year ago strongly condemned Russia for breaking the Olympic Truce and urged it to ‘give peace a chance.’
“We will strongly condemn any action taken that allows President Putin to legitimise his illegal war in Ukraine - a position the IOC previously shared. We, and many other countries, have been unequivocal on this throughout, and we will now work urgently across like-minded countries to ensure that solidarity continues on this issue.”
After the war began last February, the IOC ordered organisers and international sports bodies not to invite or allow Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete in international competitions. Other sanctions were imposed on Russian athletes in separate sports, with tennis players from both nations allowed to compete under a neutral flag for the past year.
In fact, Russian athletes have not competed under their country’s name at any Olympics since the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games because of the fallout from a prolonged doping saga. But the IOC appear to have had a change of heart for the Paris Games, which has incensed Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky.
Zelensky addressed the issue on Tuesday after speaking with French president Emmanuel Macron, who helped campaign for the Paris Olympics. “I particularly emphasised that athletes from Russia should have no place at the Olympic Games in Paris,” Zelensky wrote on his Telegram account of his talks with Macron.
A joint statement from the Ukrainian Athletes and Global Athlete has condemned the move by the IOC, claiming they are endorsing the war. "The decision sends a message to the world that the IOC endorses Russia's brutal war and invasion of Ukraine," they wrote.
“By allowing Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete, the IOC is strengthening Russia’s propaganda machine, empowering the Putin regime, and undermining peace. We’ve seen the IOC include Russia as ‘neutral athletes’ before, only to be rebranded as Olympic Athletes of Russia (OAR).
"This position ignores the reality of international sport as a tool of geopolitics – the Russian Olympic Team is part of the Russian state and Russian athletes are not politically free. Every Russian athlete competing in Paris has the potential to incite further lives lost in Ukraine."
