The International Olympic Committee (IOC) suddenly remembered that we must take the side of athletes in the event of military conflicts and not allow discrimination based on nationality. They even threatened to punish me for this. Did you lose your memory before?
New IOC statementThe ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestine forced IOC members to speak out. Still, all sporting events in both countries have been completely canceled and it is not at all clear when they will start again. The head of the organization, Thomas Bach, limited himself to general phrases like “we continue to monitor the situation.” Today, the IOC representative issued a fiery statement.
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“The IOC adheres to the principle that athletes cannot be held responsible for the actions of their governments. In the event of discrimination by an athlete or other official, the IOC will work with the national Olympic committee and the international federation to ensure effective measures, as was already the case during the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo,” an IOC representative said in a comment to the German agency DPA.
It remains to be asked: where did the principles and values go more than a year and a half ago, when Russia and Belarus were kicked out of all international competitions indefinitely. Why should our athletes be responsible for the actions of the government, but representatives of other countries should not? Why does the Olympic Charter work in one situation and not exist at all in another?
What did they say about Russia? Just to understand what is happening, we will give a number of quotes from famous people from the world of sports.
- < li class="article__list-item">“We will not fall into the trap of cheap arguments that this (Russia’s suspension) is the politicization of sport, contrary to the Olympic Charter, which requires political neutrality. Anyone who so flagrantly violates the Olympic Truce through political means cannot condemn the consequences as political,” IOC head Thomas Bach.
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"The return of athletes is completely unacceptable while they are in a state of military conflict with another country. This should be applicable to everyone internationally. “I speak only for myself, but I am convinced that I am not the only one who has this opinion on this issue,” five-time Olympic champion from Norway Johannes Klebo told Dagbladet.
- «This is the right decision! I can’t imagine a match against the Russian national team in a situation where armed aggression continues in Ukraine. Russian football players and fans are not responsible for this, but we cannot pretend that nothing is not happening,” said Barcelona’s Polish footballer Robert Lewandowski.
- «I welcome the decision (to suspend Russian clubs). I think it is good and correct that such a decision was made. Leaving national associations, clubs and players alone with such a situation would be wrong. I am very sorry that this happened, but such a decision is the only true one,” ex-Spartak coach Domenico Tedesco was quoted as saying by RB Live.
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"Most people understand that the removal of the Russians was the right decision. Since then, nothing has happened that could justify the reversal of this decision,” lamented Olympic biathlon champion Sebastian Samuelsson in an interview with Expressen.
- «You can't let Russia in. Sport is politics, and it is used for propaganda,» German biathlete Benedikt Doll said for Eurosport.de.< /li>
Why are they saying such nonsense? Then the IOC did not care at all whether discrimination against Russians was allowed or not. Already a year after the start of the conflict in Ukraine, Bach began to carefully state that Russians and Belarusians should be allowed to act in a neutral status, and at the same time noted that they should not support what is happening. Now let's return to what the IOC representative said about another conflict. This time, no one is required to comply with the conditions and recommendations. What can I say, these conditions and recommendations simply do not exist.
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"I expect that many Arab or pro-Palestinian athletes will boycott the competition if they have to compete against the Israelis. If political forces dividing people succeed in trying to decide which athletes can participate in certain competitions, then only athletes belonging to like-minded political blocs will participate in sports competitions,” the IOC representative added.
< br>What enchanting hypocrisy! There is no doubt that the IOC employs sensible people who cannot but understand that they are talking complete nonsense. This means that they say such nonsense on purpose, realizing that they cannot do otherwise. And it looks really bad.