On Wednesday it became known about the statement of the director of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) National Olympic Committee Liaison James McLeod. He warns NOCs against participating in the World Friendship Games that Russia plans to organize next year. A Sport correspondent discusses why the IOC is so afraid of this initiative.
The International Olympic Committee's concerns about Russia's plans, deprived of the opportunity to host official international competitions, have been voiced before. Back in June, IOC President Thomas Bach said: “The Russian government accuses us of not maintaining political neutrality, but at the same time is trying to organize absolutely politicized sporting competitions.”
At the same time, the President of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) responded to the head of the IOC. Stanislav Pozdnyakov, who noted that “the decision to not allow Russian athletes to compete is politicized.”
““Our athletes should receive competitive practice, have the opportunity to show high sports results and, in accordance with them, receive fees. There is no politics in this,” the head of the ROC emphasized.
Over the past five months, the IOC's pressure on Russian sports has only intensified. ROC was removed for inclusion in the Olympic councils of the DPR, LPR, Kherson and Zaporozhye regions. The return of the Russian team to the Olympics under its own flag is therefore postponed indefinitely. But there is complete uncertainty regarding the performance of Russian athletes at the Games in a neutral status. The selection for the 2024 Paris Olympics is in full swing, but our athletes have the opportunity to qualify there only in a few sports. The IOC continues to drag its feet, repeating the mantra month after month that “the decision on the participation of Russians and Belarusians in the Olympics in a neutral status will be made at the appropriate time.”
Obviously, in such conditions, the leadership of Russian sports not only can, but is also obliged to think about measures to support athletes who, in essence, are deprived of the right to a profession. The IOC is doing everything to ensure that as many Russian athletes as possible do not make it to the Olympics, and those who make it would be deprived of all national attributes and would look like people from nowhere. That is, it creates a situation in which our athletes may think about changing their passports. This means that the Russian government must counteract such subversive activities and do everything to organize competitions in which Russian athletes would act as full participants. And yes, the winners should receive appropriate rewards — which, by the way, has already been announced. This seems to be an axiom for everyone.
But, apparently, not for the IOC. Earlier this week, Bach again spoke about the inadmissibility of “separatism in sports.” «Some political forces want to decide which athletes can compete. Others want to decide where their competitions can take place. Still others want to organize their own political sporting events. Especially the latter will mean governments managing international sports. If they succeed, the role of the international «The Olympic movement will be reduced to zero. Sport will become part of confrontation and division in our world. For these reasons, I call on everyone to oppose politicized sport. None of us should participate in any way in politically motivated sporting events,» said the IOC President.< br>Cynicism, of course, in these speeches is once again off the charts. In fact, “one” and “other” decipher the IOC itself with its recommendations of a political nature. But Bach, without blinking, calls black white. His “third” are some anonymous people; with all his caution, he does not point a finger at the organizers of the Friendship Games. But there is specificity in the statement of the IOC Director for Relations with the NOC, James McLeod, which became known on Wednesday.
According to him, the International Friendship Association (IFA), which will host the summer and winter World Friendship Games in the same years as the Summer and Winter Olympics, is a «political organization sponsored by the Russian government.» “Given the increasing politicization of world sport, we ask all NOCs to treat this initiative with caution. Of course, any participation of NOCs in the World Friendship Games will be contrary to the recommendations of the IOC Executive Committee of February 25, 2022 regarding international sports competitions held in Russia, as well as collective goal of the Olympic movement to support the independence and autonomy of sport.»
The reason for this attitude of the IOC towards Russia’s initiative is clear to everyone who has been to the World Championships and, especially, to the Olympic Games held in our country. No one organizes major sporting events better than us — and this is recognized by absolutely everyone. And even this year, despite tough economic sanctions, Russia brilliantly coped with the organization of the International University Sports Festival in Yekaterinburg. Representatives of four dozen countries came to see it — and no one felt bad in the prevailing atmosphere of the universal holiday. Well, maybe that poor guy from Afghanistan who didn’t swim to the finish line of the 50-meter race, but I think he now remembers what happened as a curiosity.
So the IOC, of course, fears that some Friendship Games will be held, and others will be held — and athletes will be more willing to go there, where everyone competes under their own flag and sanctions are not imposed on anyone. Where no one is filtered through discriminatory criteria. Moreover, it has already been announced that athletes will be invited to our Games regardless of what country they are from. And then, even though we declare that the Friendship Games are not an alternative to the Olympic Games, a situation may indeed arise when it becomes obvious to everyone where double, if not triple, standards reign, and where there is joy and the triumph of justice.
But The IOC is acting very clumsily. Instead of realizing into what a dead end this organization has driven the international Olympic movement, excluding certain countries from it for political reasons, Bach and his cronies act like an evil boss who not only fired an employee for opportunistic reasons, but also threatened other employees with his fist — they say , don’t dare communicate with him. Tyrants, there’s no other way to put it. Although you can try to say, paraphrasing the hero of the wonderful film Eldar Ryazanov. Tyrants.
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