A little more than four months remain until the Summer Olympics in Paris , but there is still no specific data regarding the participation of Russian athletes in the Games. On Friday, Assistant to the President of the Russian Federation Igor Levitin, in a conversation with him, gave new introductions, after which it becomes clear that a trip to the capital of France may soon receive the status of illegal.
“We are not going to replace anything” Russian sport has been operating under full-scale sanctions for more than two years, during which the issue of participation in the Olympics remained central. Little constructive solutions to this problem were proposed and found, so Russia began to think about developing its own formats — the Friendship Games, the Games of the BRICS countries and the Games of the Future. In the West, this was perceived as a challenge to the entire Olympic movement, because Russia allegedly came up with an alternative to the classic Games.
«»The Games of the Future, the BRICS Games and the Friendship Games should not be considered at all as a replacement for the Olympic Games. We are not going to replace anything, and the IOC knows this. They were just surprised that so many countries support these competitions. But the rules and formats are not Olympic Games. In terms of the number of participants and the number of countries, our competitions are not inferior to the Olympics, but they are held according to their own rules and procedures. Therefore, this is in no way a repeat of the Olympic Games,» Levitin said.
Organizing and holding such large-scale international events takes a lot of effort, money and time, but in Russia they did not forget to think about participation in the Olympics. The December statements of the IOC did not add any optimism: it seemed to be allowed, but under what conditions? It is necessary to condemn the holding of SVO in Ukraine, limit the use of national symbols to the maximum and renounce ties with some organizations. All winter, the Russian sports community was deciding what to do. Someone advocated that we should go, but most of the voices argued that we did not need the Olympics under such conditions.
When and how everything will be resolved Solving the problem requires a consolidated solution, and at the end of February, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that he wants to hear the final opinion from the main sports actors — the Russian Olympic Committee and the country's Ministry of Sports. The head of the department, Oleg Matytsin, in turn, said that he is awaiting final recommendations from the IOC on the above-mentioned criteria in the near future. The IOC quickly admitted: “There will be no update, we said everything.” Therefore, already in March, according to Levitin, the Russian side will formalize its final position on participation in the 2024 Games.
““On March 14 there will be an executive committee of the ROC, I think that by this date the first proposals will be announced,” he said.
What will this decision be? In principle, its contours can be outlined, judging by the specific and rather harsh statement of the presidential aide.
“We are now waiting for proposals from the ROC and the Ministry of Sports on the participation of our athletes in the Olympics. If there are requirements in the declaration that will violate Russian legislation, then, naturally, our athlete cannot sign such a declaration. This is a violation of human rights. Look, «What is going on in the Middle East, in the Gaza Strip, but there are no requirements for athletes to sign declarations, just as there are no requirements for athletes from those countries that supply weapons to Ukraine. But each athlete must decide for himself, but without violating Russian legislation,» Levitin said.
What does the position voiced by the government representative mean? This does not look like a direct recommendation to athletes, but it takes the discussion of the problem from the plane of “good — bad” to the plane of “legal — illegal”. At the same time, the range of opportunities for those wishing to travel is significantly narrowed. If earlier for going to the Olympics you could only be scolded and accused of lack of patriotism, now you risk violating the legislation of the Russian Federation.
There is confidence that the IOC is unlikely to change the criteria in the days remaining before the Games, and the Russian side will not soften its position, which will take its final form literally in two weeks. It turns out that Russia is close to officially refusing to participate in the Olympics, and recognizing the IOC’s demands as actually illegal. Well, are we getting ready for the Friendship Games? Or is there still room for changing the situation?