One year before the opening of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, the question of the impact of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on the organization of the event is still not clearly settled. The International Olympic Committee (IOC), anxious to preserve the universalism of sport, is trying to walk a perilous ridge line between the need to draw the consequences of Russian aggression and the desire not to deprive competition of athletes who do not have to take responsibility for the war.
At this stage, the positions of the protagonists seem irreconcilable. On the one hand, Ukraine says it will refuse to participate in the presence of Russian athletes. On the other, Russia, in the event of exclusion, threatens to launch a network of competitions competing with the Olympic Games, which could seduce emerging countries, which would sign the death certificate of modern Olympism.
Embarrassed by the situation, the CIO is struggling to set a line. In February 2022, in the wake of the invasion of Ukraine, its president, Thomas Bach, had no hesitation in banning Russian and Belarusian athletes from competitions, before changing his mind in January 2023, announcing “find a way” to reinstate them. More than six months later, the international sports community is still waiting for a clear position from the organization.
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At the end of March, the IOC simply recommended that international federations apply within the framework of qualifying events for the Olympic Games a status of “neutral athletes”, making it possible to accept the participation of Russians and Belarusians. To take advantage of it, the athletes must not have previously supported the conflict in Ukraine and that they have no connection with the army or a security agency. They cannot compete under their national colors and, during any medal ceremonies, there will be no Russian or Belarusian flag or anthem. Finally, team participation is banned.
Avoid a nightmare scenario
While the IOC is pleased that this device has been able to operate without major problems in certain competitions, the solution remains imperfect. Given that nearly three-quarters of the Russian medalists at the Tokyo Games were under contract with the army or a security agency, a sorting will naturally take place. But beyond that, the concept of neutrality remains very relative. Whatever the good faith of an athlete, he will not be able to prevent the Russian authorities from exploiting his potential victory. In addition, the accounts on the social networks of a number of athletes have been carefully groomed to erase any patriotic declarations in order to make their profile compatible with the “neutrality” demanded by the IOC.
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By taking shelter behind the sports federations instead of taking its own responsibilities, the Lausanne-based body risks ending up with disciplines applying a strict exclusion of Russians and Belarusians − this will be the case for athletics −, while others, such as fencing or judo, will welcome athletes with neutral status. The universalism advocated by the IOC will be somewhat tarnished.
By not having had the courage to enact clear rules in good time to exclude from the Games athletes from countries that are warmongers or annexationists, the IOC finds itself forced to come up with an ill-cut odds late in the day, which risk of not satisfying anyone. The priority now is to avoid a nightmare scenario, in which Ukrainian athletes would be absent from competitions, when Russians, even with neutral status, could participate.
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