International Olympic Committee (IOC) will be held on June 20-22. The organization may discuss the issue of allowing Russian athletes to participate in the 2024 Summer Olympics in a neutral status. Another key issue on the agenda is the intention of the IOC to de-recognize the International Boxing Association (IBA).
At a meeting of the IOC Executive Committee at the end of March, the organization recommended allowing Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete in international competitions in a neutral status. However, the IOC has postponed a decision on the participation of athletes from these countries in the Olympic Games in Paris. IOC President Thomas Bach explained that it is necessary to analyze how the implementation of the IOC recommendations in international federations will proceed.
Bach will make a presentation on the first day of the IOC Executive Board. Reports will be heard on the activities of summer and winter international sports federations, as well as national Olympic committees. The issue of Russian and Belarusian athletes performing in a neutral status is not highlighted separately on the agenda, but it will undoubtedly be raised in discussions during the meetings.
Earlier, Bach met in Paris with French President Emmanuel Macron. The IOC President thanked Macron for his statement at the G7 summit in Japan on the autonomy of sports and the admission of Russian and Belarusian athletes to the Olympics. The parties agreed that the decision on the participation of Russians and Belarusians in the Paris Games would be made at the appropriate time.
The agency «Ves Sport» last week reported that the IOC had already made this decision, according to which the principles for the admission of Russian and Belarusian athletes to the Olympic Games would be similar to the principles for the formation of the Olympic refugee team. The press service of the IOC, in response to a request, did not comment on this statement.
Some international federations, even after receiving updated recommendations from the IOC, did not change their earlier decisions to prevent Russians and Belarusians from participating in international competitions. Among them are the World Athletics Association (World Athletics), the International Skating Union (ISU) and a number of others. The governing bodies in some other sports — including tennis, fencing, judo, taekwondo — allowed Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete in a neutral status. They performed, in particular, at the largest competitions — such as the World Cup.
Back in October 2022, the IBA decided to allow Russians and Belarusians to participate in international tournaments under its own flag. Athletes from these countries performed at the world championships with the full presence of national symbols. Not surprisingly, the organization has come under pressure in the international arena. Thus, a number of countries boycotted the world boxing championships, and the US Boxing Federation announced its withdrawal from the IBA.
However, problems in relations between the IOC and the IBA began even before last year's events. The IOC suspended the recognition of the IBA (then AIBA) in 2019, making claims of a financial, managerial, ethical nature, as well as calling into question the objectivity of refereeing competitions. The organization was given conditions to meet certain criteria in order to regain full status. In parallel, the IOC deprived her of the right to host the Olympic boxing tournament, leaving this sport in the Olympic program in the interests of boxers and the sport itself.
In August 2021, the President of the IBA, Russian Umar Kremlev, announced that all the debts of the organization were repaid thanks to sponsors. In December of the same year, the IOC presented the IBA with a roadmap to restore status, according to which the organization was required, in particular, to increase the level of financial transparency and sustainability, including through revenue diversification, change the management and refereeing of competitions. If these conditions were met, full IBA status could be restored in 2023.
According to Reuters in early June, the IBA report on the fulfillment of the IOC criteria, in particular, reported that the organization did not renew the sponsorship contract with the Russian company Gazprom. «The IBA has done its best to address the IOC's concerns about the various areas of the IBA's activities, improved its work in the areas of finance, management and sports integrity, and also settled all the debts of the previous management,» the report said. The IBA also accused the IOC of false statements and unilateral actions in the report.
Nevertheless, on June 7, the IOC Executive Board stated that the IBA had not met the conditions of the roadmap set out in 2021 and recommended that the IOC session strip the IBA of recognition. This recommendation will be discussed on June 22 at an extraordinary session of the IOC, which will be held remotely.