The IOC at the executive committee and the session of the organization on June 20-22 did not discuss the issue of the speeches of Russian and Belarusian athletes at the 2024 Olympics in Paris. At the same time, the organization did not ignore one fact. In these countries, they are not going to quietly wait for mercy from the IOC. On the contrary, Russia and Belarus are planning to organize multi-sport competitions. The Sport correspondent tried to understand the situation, where Thomas Bach barely concealed his irritation.
The question of the admission of Russians and Belarusians to the Olympic Games in Paris, the IOC again postponed. There is no sensation in this. The topic was not listed on the agenda of the Executive Board and the IOC session held in the last three days. Although it was believed that the committee would decide to close the topic without formal warnings. For now, the athletes of Russia and Belarus have to be on standby.
The head of the IOC, Thomas Bach, nevertheless mentioned the topic during his speech. Only the German did not say practically anything new. Most of the theses have already been voiced earlier. Starting with Russia's demands to the IOC not to notice the IOC (the wording was changed in accordance with the requirements of the law), and Ukraine's desire to exclude Russian and Belarusian athletes from the sports movement. Finally, Bach once again mentioned the main mission of the IOC: to give every athlete a chance to realize the Olympic dream. in the same tournaments. Once again, the IOC President gave an example from tennis.
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«Why can they play tennis together but not table tennis? Why can they compete in cycling but not in swimming? — Bach asked rhetorical questions where answers are hard to come by. Especially if you continue to cynically turn a blind eye to all sorts of actions, such as the refusal of Ukrainians to shake hands with rivals. Although for such antics they were even booed in Paris at the recent Roland Garros.
The IOC leader also found positive moments. The German again expressed his joy after successfully held tournaments with the participation of Russians and Belarusians. Athletes in a neutral status performed at the European Fencing Championship in Bulgaria and the World Taekwondo Championship in Azerbaijan. Bach even allowed to make a taunt against Poland, where a fencing tournament was postponed for refusing to issue visas to Russian athletes. «This is discrimination,» the head of the IOC was brief, but we have already heard this rhetoric. «There are no easy solutions in complex political situations» — another cliché from Bach.
But one interesting point in the official's speech sounded for the first time. Bach expressed concern after the idea voiced in Russia to hold «Friendship Games». A bonus was the idea of the Russian authorities to intensify the work on holding tournaments together with the SCO and BRICS countries. Bach did not mention the names of the competitions, and at the same time made it clear what he was talking about.
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«The Russian government reproaches us for non-compliance with political neutrality, but at the same time it is going to hold absolutely politicized competitions,» the IOC president said reproachfully.
In the words of the German, you can catch the cynicism. The IOC brandishes a sanctions club, sometimes driving Russian and Belarusian athletes away from tournaments, or it can “open the doors” with the condition not to wear the colors of national flags. That is, the IOC at the same time requires Russians and Belarusians to sit back at home and not even participate in home tournaments? And they didn’t invite guests who were ready to come to them? ! Especially after a personal decision to drive out the countries with the tournament, hiding behind the cynical motive of «ensuring the countries' security.» Russian and Belarusian athletes before the Olympic Games in Paris. The IOC will make a decision «at the appropriate time,» he said. The intonation of the speech of the head of the IOC hinted at a positive outcome. At the same time, Bach is afraid of a boycott of Ukrainians and countries close to her in spirit. At the same time, the official's attempts to persuade them not to go into the bottle have a clear excess.
If the IOC does not slow down its cynicism, then Bach's words about Olympic solidarity may become empty. While the manifestation of true Friendship will be those very Games, the idea of which the IOC bosses in Lausanne did not like so much.
The opinion of the author may not coincide with the position of the editors.
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