The IOC President accuses the Ukrainian government of not letting some of its athletes compete against Russian athletes
International Olympic Committee (IOC) President German Thomas Bach said that Ukrainian athletes “are being discriminated against by their own government” by being denied entry to some competitions where representatives of Russia, an invading country, are registered. Ukraine and its ally Belarus. Bach reminded that this measure could prevent them from qualifying for the 2024 Paris Games. “Many Ukrainians would have liked to compete internationally, but they couldn’t.” [los recientes mundiales de] Judo and Taekwondo on the orders of the Ukrainian Ministry of Sports,” Bach complained. “They are sanctioned by their own government,” he added.
Bach briefed the IOC Assembly, convening for its 140th session this Thursday, on the situation resulting from the war in Ukraine, before debating the future of Olympic boxing, the main item on the agenda. “It is difficult to understand,” said the President, “that the government of Ukraine denies its own athletes the qualification for Paris 2024. It’s hard to understand why they are allowed to compete in tennis but not in table tennis; why cycling but not swimming; Why in fencing in test A but not in test B”.
In the last European fencing tournaments, which were transferred from Poland to Bulgaria after the Polish government did not issue visas to Russian athletes, everyone took part, but the Ukrainians only took part in the trials without Russians. Thomas Bach said that the Ukrainian team deserved the opportunity to be “enthusiastically received by hundreds of thousands of people lining the Seine” at the opening ceremony in Paris. “It would be a strong demonstration of resistance,” he said.
Bach has reiterated his idea that by encouraging the participation of all athletes, regardless of passport, he is protecting “the unity of the Olympic Movement, the true nature of sport on a global scale.” Should the opposite occur, he added, “we would end up with only competitions between athletes from the same political bloc and the universal Olympic Games would no longer be possible.”
Bach recalled that 141 countries had condemned the war in Ukraine, but only 52 governments “representing 15% of the world’s population” had imposed sanctions on the Russian and Belarusian governments. “It is the description of the reality of a fragmented world. “In this world, we athletes must protect our unit, our values and oppose any kind of discrimination,” he said.
When Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, the IOC recommended banning Russians and Belarusians from competitions, or at best forcing them to compete as neutrals. A year later, coinciding with qualifying for the Paris 2024 Games, the organization advised federations to authorize their return, always as neutrals and in case they were not affiliated with the army or actively supporting the war. (Eph)