Not enough sanctions and little effort to form an international pro-Ukrainian coalition
People’s Deputy of Ukraine and former athlete Olga Saladukha criticized the position Ministry of Sports and NOC of Ukraine in the fight against intentions International Olympic Committee (IOC) return Russians and Belarusians to international competitions.
“It should be honestly admitted that the capitulatory position of the IOC can also be found to be the fault of the sports leadership of Ukraine.”
“Firstly, from the beginning of the invasion, the behavior of the then leaders of the National Olympic Committee was strange, for a long time they were afraid to call the war a war. Secondly, when people recently started talking about the return of Russians on the sidelines of big-time sports, the relevant ministry and the NOC obviously did not provide adequate publicity to these threats and failed to form a strong international pro-Ukrainian sports coalition.”
“For example, the initiative to introduce personal sports sanctions against athletes in Russia and Belarus was taken over by journalists, caring athletes and parliament. The list of sports propagandists of Russia and Belarus supporting the war has been formed in the media and is constantly being updated.
“In the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Youth and Sports, we developed a mechanism and voted for the first list of sanctioned people – 55 people. We are waiting for the decision of the National Security and Defense Council, according to which the sanctions will come into force and to which other states will join. We are preparing a new list of pro-Putin and pro-Lukashenko sports lackeys. We are talking about hundreds of people.”
“At the end of November last year, at the first meeting of the sanctions Working Group, a representative of the ministry said that during the war, the ministry had filed as many as 4 Russian sports functionaries for sanctions. This is despite the presence even then in the free access of dozens, if not hundreds of cases of support for the war on the part of Russian athletes and functionaries.
“Effective communication between the NOCs and the international community is also out of the question – we are still waiting for the organization’s reaction to the latest initiatives of Thomas Bach. We hope that the Ukrainian sports community will soon hear a clear, reasoned position and action plan from the National Olympic Committee.”
The IOC is ready to consider the possibility of admitting athletes from Russia and Belarus to international competitions. In this case, everyone who wishes will be required to act in a neutral status. Also, athletes should not support the war of the Russian Federation against Ukraine and pass a mandatory doping test.
The Olympic Summit, chaired by IOC President Thomas Bach, unanimously agreed to accept an initiative proposed by the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) to allow athletes from Russia and Belarus to take part in its competitions.
The NOC of Ukraine will hold an online conference on February 3. During the meeting, the issue of a possible boycott by Ukraine of the 2024 Olympic Games will be discussed, to which representatives of the Russian Federation and Belarus under a neutral flag may be admitted.
Ex-world heavyweight champion Volodymyr Klitschko, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky, Tokyo 2020 Olympic champion in Greco-Roman wrestling and Verkhovna Rada deputy Jean Beleniuk, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmitry Kuleba, ex- Andriy Shevchenko, coach of the Ukrainian national football team.
However, the IOC does not plan to consider all applications regarding the return of athletes from the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus to the Olympic Games-2024. The IOC believes that a complete ban on the performance of Russian and Belarusian athletes is discrimination and is contrary to the Olympic Charter. The organizers of the 2024 Olympics in Paris said they would adhere to the decision of the International Olympic Committee to allow Russians and Belarusians to compete under a neutral flag.
Source: Sportarena
I’m Todderic Kirkman, a journalist and author for athletistic. I specialize in covering all news related to sports, ranging from basketball to football and everything in between. With over 10 years of experience in the industry, I have become an invaluable asset to my team. My ambition is to bring the most up-to-date information on sports topics around the world.
