Whether Russian and Belarusian athletes will be allowed to compete at the Olympic Games in Paris next year is currently the major sporting policy debate. The fact that opinions differ widely was shown on Wednesday evening at a panel discussion in the Hessian Ministry of the Interior.
Thomas Weikert, President of the German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB), initially tried to reach a consensus: “We do agree that Russians who are not soldiers and speak out against the war should be allowed to start at the Olympics”. Hesse’s Minister of the Interior and Sports, Peter Beuth (CDU), contradicted this and called for athletes from Russia and Belarus to be completely excluded.
“Attitude is required here”
“Are we going to accept that a dictator started a war after the Olympic Games and before the 2022 Paralympics in Tokyo?” This has little to do with international understanding: “For me, that doesn’t go together,” said the minister, “here attitude is required”.
Sylvia Schenk, head of the sports working group at Transparency International Germany, took the opposite position. A “blanket exclusion” of Russians and Belarusians would result in “clear discrimination”. It is therefore absolutely necessary to examine each individual case.
After Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) recommended excluding Russian and Belarusian athletes from all competitions. At the end of March this year, the IOC revised the decision. The requirement now is that athletes from Belarus and Russia are allowed to start, provided they are not members of the military or supporters of the war, and as long as all the criteria for doping controls have been met.
However, the athletes may only appear as “neutral”, direct references to their national affiliation such as flags, anthems and national emblems are prohibited. In addition, teams are generally excluded. So far, the IOC has only made recommendations; implementation is the responsibility of the world associations of the individual sports. While DOSB President Weikert at least agreed with the IOC criteria, fencer Lea Krüger sharply criticized them. Chaos reigns in her sport, explained the 27-year-old fencer, referring to the European Championships in mid-June, where the individual competitions were moved from Poland to Bulgaria at short notice in order to comply with the IOC’s recommendation.
“Total exclusion” as a breach of the law?
Krüger, also a member of the presidium of Athletes Germany, expressed concern that she herself could become part of Moscow’s state propaganda in fights against Russian women. She also criticized the fact that sport had become too dependent on Russia in recent years and that there were still no discernible efforts by sport to sanction such crimes. The consequences would have to be borne by the athletes.
Lawyer Schenk pointed out that even a “total exclusion” could be exploited by Putin for propaganda purposes as “Russophobia”. “Russia’s serious violation of the law through a war of aggression must not be answered with a violation of the law,” said Schenk. Otherwise there is a risk of embarrassment if the courts take back the exclusions of athletes.
A comment by Pirmin Clossé, London Published/Updated: , Recommendations: 24 Anno Hecker Published/Updated: , Recommendations: 17 A comment by Thomas Klemm, Paris Published/Updated: , Recommendations: 18
Beuth referred to the tremendous suffering that Russia is inflicting on Ukraine, including in sport. So far, more than 300 Ukrainian athletes have been killed. “From this point of view it is “nonsense” to let Russian athletes start as “neutrals”, this status should be reserved for “those who are clearly politically persecuted”.
Asked about a prognosis for Paris 2024, Lea Krüger expressed a noble wish at the end of the one and a half hour discussion in the fully occupied hall: “I wish for the Olympic Games, where the focus is on sport”.