When Russia launched an attack on Ukraine on February 24, 2022, it also had revolutionary effects on the world of sports.
Four days after the attack began, the International Olympic Committee recommended that international sports federations and organizers of sporting events not allow Russian and Belarusian athletes to participate in international competitions. A strong recommendation was also that sports events should not be organized in Russia or Belarus.
President of the International Olympic Committee Thomas Bach justified the closure of the Russian athletes by saying that it is not about punishment, but about protecting the athletes.
Various parties in Russia have protested the sports ban. In July, the International Court of Arbitration for Sport rejected appeals filed by four Russian football clubs and the Russian Football Federation regarding the gate ban for international matches.
The pressure against the IOC is growing, and it is no longer only coming from Russia. The recommendation to exclude Russians and Belarusians from sporting events is still valid.
However, there are discussions in the IOC about the conditions under which Russians and Belarusians could be included.
Finnish member of the IOC and chairman of the IOC Athletes’ Commission Emma Terho open to Urheiluli, what kind of discussions have taken place.
– The mission of the sports club is to unite all athletes in competitions, regardless of where they come from. This has not been possible since the attack. Despite the difficulty of the decision, I see that it has been the only option.
However, due to pressure from the IOC, ending the lockout of Russian athletes has become a topic of conversation.
Emma Terho tells how the recommendation is questioned
The IOC recommended banning the Russians in order to guarantee a safe environment for all participants and preserve the integrity of the competitions.
– That recommendation is still valid, and it has not changed. Recently, various stakeholders have been consulted about whether it should be changed, says Terho.
Most recently, the return of Russian athletes to international sports was discussed at the IOC meeting last week. Terho was present at the Lausanne meeting.
The International Olympic Committee is under pressure especially from outside Europe, but also from European athletes.
– We are talking about an organization with 206 countries. Questions come, for example, from those countries that feel that they too have been bombed and that they too have been the target of military actions. That why those who attacked them have been allowed or are allowed to compete. Unfortunately, this is not the only war in the world. Mirroring that, there has been a discussion about the role of sport as a unifying factor, says Terho.
– Globally, the views are sometimes very different from those in Europe. On the other hand, there are more personal relationships with Russian athletes in Europe. This raises the ultimate question, whether innocent individuals are the victims here.
According to Terho, the above-mentioned view has been brought up by, among others, the tennis players’ association. However, Terho reminds that there are also many athletes who are definitely in favor of the Russian bracket.
Neutrality and doping?
Terho does not take a position on when Russians or Belarusians could return to international arenas, even if the war continues.
– The recommendation remains valid, and no schedule has been decided, but there has been more and more discussion from different sides about the conditions under which they could come back. It also affects the schedule, whether a sufficiently neutral way can be found.
What do you mean by terms and means?
– The details have not been discussed, but I definitely see the first step as the participants coming as completely neutral athletes in some way. In addition, that the safety of individual games can be guaranteed and also equal access to the country. And we cannot forget the pressure on other athletes or the Ukrainian athletes who have suffered enormously.
Russians have been seen in competitions since the start of the war in some individual sports, such as tennis and World Rally Championship. The condition has been to compete without national emblems.
As so-called neutral athletes, the Russians have already competed in the World Cup and Olympics before the war – competing under the Russian flag has been prohibited due to the state-led doping program and manipulation of test data.
In December 2020, the International Court of Appeal for Sports CAS halved Russia’s four-year doping ban in international sports. The ban set by Wada, the World Anti-Doping Agency, will therefore end at the end of this year.
Read more about the doping ban originally set by Wada in this story from December 2019.
Doping is one part of the “path” when the IOC considers the Russians’ return to the Games.
– Doping matters must be defined very precisely. How have athletes been tested and have they been tested? It will be a part of this sometimes, when the matter is topical, Terho states.
What if they don’t agree to compete against the Russians?
Algerian judoka at Tokyo Olympics 2021 Fethi Nourine refused to fight an Israelite Tohar Butbulia against. Nourine and her coach Amar Benikhlef received a ten-year ban from the International Judo Federation.
Terho raises the possibility of events like this.
– It goes against the unifying mission of not taking these kinds of political views against other athletes in sports, Terho begins.
– These situations must be clear, so that the athletes don’t get into situations where they have to wonder if, at worst, they are forced to do something under external pressure or they will be punished. Or that athletes have to justify their work, i.e. participating in the games.
You are referring to the fact that there would be situations where someone does not want to compete against the Russians and then we should think about whether those who do not want to compete will be punished?
– Yes, if we compare what the situation has been with the Israelis, for example. They have been situations that have been very essential in terms of protecting the integrity of the competition. That’s why these were made in the first place (recommendation to exclude Russians from competitions) and that’s why they are still valid.
According to AP, the IOC was asked already in May why Russia and Belarus were punished with such extensive isolation, but many other countries that have engaged in hostilities in the past have not been treated with the same seriousness.
– The war in Ukraine is different because it is a flagrant violation of the Olympic peace, was Bach’s answer.
Russia launched the attack four days after the end of the Beijing Winter Olympics. The Olympic truce had been declared until the middle of March, i.e. the end of the Paralympics.
Among other things, FIS is waiting for the IOC’s solutions
Although in February many sports federations took the initiative or at least demanded the IOC to take the initiative in reacting to Russian and Belarusian athletes, now things can go the other way.
Chairman of the Finnish Ski Association Markku Haapasalmi says that at the moment there is no reason to assume that Russian athletes will participate in the World Cups of the starting season.
However, Haapasalmi says that the International Ski Federation FIS largely follows the guidelines of the IOC.
– The IOC is very much the entity that manages the overall picture. Of course, the sports federations make their decisions.
– At the moment, the decisions are somewhat on the table from the IOC’s side. We have the next meeting in about a month, when the matter will be brought up.
Haapasalmi states that for the time being, Russian skiers are not entitled to competitions under FIS, but if changes come from the IOC, FIS will handle the matter. Currently, FIS does not support the participation of Russian athletes.
According to Haapasalmi, the matter has been very clear as far as FIS is concerned, and there has been no pressure to include Russian athletes.
This is how Russia was largely isolated from international sports
When Russia launched its offensive on February 24, the reaction from the sports world was mostly sharp.
Before the recommendation made by the IOC, many national or international sports federations had time to make their own decisions or demands: for example, the International Ski Federation canceled its World Cup competition in Russia, the Finnish Ice Hockey Federation demanded the exclusion of Russia and Belarus from the World Cup, and several national football federations announced that they would not play against Russia.
Read more: Vladimir Putin is hardly interested in the sports world’s sharp reaction to military action, say researchers – this is the effect of Russia’s shutdown
In the video below, you can see how the topic was discussed in the Sports Studio on March 6, 2022.
Three-time high jump world champion and Olympic champion Maria Lasitskene wrote in June to the President of the International Olympic Committee To Thomas Bach a long message. He emphasized that athletes could not be held responsible for political events.
President of the International Athletics Federation Sebastian Coe commented on Lasitskene’s letter to Urheilu in July during the World Championships in Athletics. According to Coe, it would be completely incomprehensible if Russians and Belarusians were allowed to compete without obstacles, while it is simply not possible for Ukrainians. “It’s about integrity,” Coe said.
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