Worldwide Olympic Committee (IOC) president Thomas Bach says accusations that permitting Russian and Belarusian athletes again into the Video games would promote the invasion of Ukraine are “defamatory” and referred to as on Ukraine to stop its menace of a boycott of Paris 2024.
Key factors:
- The IOC flagged pathways for Russians and Belarusians to compete on the Paris 2024 Olympics
- The governing physique was accused of selling the conflict in Ukraine by doing so
- IOC president Thomas Bach says such claims are defamatory
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has stepped up his marketing campaign to assemble worldwide assist to boycott the Paris 2024 Olympic Video games until Russian and Belarusian athletes are banned from competing as “neutral athletes”.
He has beforehand described any impartial flag as “stained with blood”, whereas a presidential aide described the IOC as, “a promoter of war, murder and destruction”.
In a prolonged four-page letter despatched to Ukraine’s Nationwide Olympic Committee (NOC) president, Vadym Guttsait, and seen by The Ticket, IOC president Bach started by reiterating “the unanimous support of the Olympic movement for the Ukrainian athletes” and “unwavering commitment to solidarity with the Ukrainian Olympic community”.
He mentioned a boycott would go towards Olympic ideas and would solely hurt the athletes of Ukraine since, “previous boycotts did not achieve their political ends”.
The letter warns towards Ukraine’s attempts to gather support for a boycott earlier than setting out the the reason why the IOC has seemingly backflipped on its name in March 2022 for worldwide sports activities to ban all Russian and Belarusian athletes, referees and sports activities officers from worldwide competitors following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, performed with the assist of Belarus.
“As you know, the participation of neutral athletes with a Russian or Belarusian passport at the Olympic Games Paris 2024 has not even been discussed in concrete terms yet,” Bach writes.
“Therefore, your letter at this premature stage to your fellow NOCs, to the International Federations, IOC Members and to future Olympic hosts, pressuring them in an attempt to publicly influence their decision making, has been perceived by the vast majority of them as, at the very least, extremely regrettable.
“It’s the duty of each NOC and of any member of an NOC to uphold the elemental ideas of the Olympic Constitution.
“A boycott is a violation of the Olympic Charter, which obliges all NOCs to ‘participate in the Games of the Olympiad by sending athletes’.”
Two United Nations particular rapporteurs within the fields of cultural rights, and racism and discrimination wrote to the IOC final 12 months supporting the IOC’s ban on Russian and Belarusian symbols and logos – such as flags and anthems, however raised issues over the discrimination of any particular person primarily based on nationality.
“We understand the desire to support Ukrainian athletes and the Ukrainian Olympic community, who suffer terribly from the war, together with all other Ukrainians, but the Olympic Committee and more widely the Olympic community have also the compelling obligation to abide by the Olympic Charter, and more widely international human rights norms prohibiting discrimination,” Alexandra Xanthaki and Ashwini KP wrote to the IOC.
“The same rules must apply to all athletes, whatever their nationality. This includes the rule that any advocacy of national, racial or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence shall be prohibited.”
The IOC has since revised its outright ban on athletes from Russia and Belarus and is investigating ways they can compete under a neutral flag — such because the Olympic flag, as athletes from Yugoslavia did in Barcelona 1992.
Bach additionally pointed to the instance of the current Australian Open tennis event the place gamers from Russia and Belarus competed as neutrals, with the ladies’s singles received by Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka.
Bach mentioned there was widespread assist internationally for the unifying power of the Olympic Video games, pointing to a lately handed decision on the UN Basic Meeting.
“This resolution recognises that ‘major international sports events should be organised in the spirit of peace, mutual understanding and international cooperation, friendship and tolerance, and without discrimination of any kind, and that unifying and conciliative nature of such events should be respected’,” he says in his letter.
“The resolution specifically is ‘acknowledging the Olympic Charter, and that any form of discrimination is incompatible with belonging to the Olympic movement’. This resolution was passed by consensus by all UN Member States, including the Government of Ukraine.”
Bach closes with this:
“Since you chose to send your correspondence to all NOCs, IFs and beyond, you will understand that we will also be copying stakeholders of the Olympic Movement on this letter, so that they have the full picture,” the letter reads.
“In the Olympic spirit of peace and solidarity, which was so evident in all our consultation calls, let us work together for the sake of the Ukrainian athletes.”
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