Thomas Bach insists the International Olympic Committee is not using stalling tactics in delaying a decision on whether Russian and Belarusian athletes can compete at next year’s Paris Games.
The IOC’s executive board set out recommendations on Tuesday which global sports federations can apply concerning the return of athletes from those countries to international events amid the invasion of Ukraine.
The recommendations say only individual, neutral athletes from those countries should be allowed to compete – not teams. Athletes and support personnel who actively support the war in Ukraine must also remain barred, as must any athlete or support staff member contracted to the Russian or Belarusian military or security agencies.
Following a request by the 11th Olympic Summit, IOC issues recommendations for International Federations and international sports event organisers on the participation of athletes with a Russian or Belarusian passport in international competitions:https://t.co/yNgQElJweK
— IOC MEDIA (@iocmedia) March 28, 2023
However, the IOC has not yet decided on whether those athletes can compete at the Olympic Games themselves.
“We want to monitor the implementation of these recommendations for as long as possible and make an informed decision,” Bach said at a press conference.
Asked whether the IOC was kicking the issue down the road and effectively hoping the war would end to make a decision easier, Bach replied: “We are not kicking it down the road, and we are not waiting.
“We all would like the war to end now and this is what we are calling for, but as you can see from all the reasons we’re giving, the conditions are not related to the development of the war, they are related to the respect for the Olympic Charter and the Olympic values. We have to address these questions.”
While Bach continues to say the Olympic Movement must not discriminate against an athlete based on their passport, arguably its most high-profile sport – athletics – said last week that Russian and Belarusian athletes will remain barred from its World Series events for the foreseeable future.
Ukraine’s sports minister has suggested his country could boycott the Paris Games if athletes from those two countries are permitted to compete, while the UK government is part of a collective of nations which has raised concerns about Russian and Belarusian athletes competing.
Bach reiterated the IOC’s opposition to what he described as “political interference” in the autonomy of sports federations, adding: “If governments took over the decisions regarding which athletes can take part in which competitions, it would be the end of world sport as we know it today.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here