The question of whether Russian or Belarusian athletes will be allowed to compete in the 2024 Olympics is dividing the international sports community. The IOC around German President Thomas Bach wants to open the door, numerous countries are going on the barricades. The fronts are hardened.
The Polish Sports Minister has reaffirmed that the international sports community does not seek a boycott of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. A boycott of the games is not their goal, games without Ukraine, Poland, Latvia or any other of their countries are not, said Kamil Bortniczuk in an interview with the "Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung". "We want to celebrate the Olympic Games without Russia and Belarus. In order to achieve the goal, we may have to issue an ultimatum - either Russia or us," said the Polish sports minister. "The free world must remain united."
At the initiative of Great Britain, sports politicians from 35 countries recently called for the exclusion of Russian and Belarusian athletes from the Paris Games at a video conference because of the Russian war against Ukraine. In doing so, they reacted to the fact that the International Olympic Committee (IOC), led by the German Thomas Bach, was looking for ways to allow athletes from the two countries mentioned to start as neutral athletes in international competitions.
Bortniczuk expressed his doubts that there are still such things as neutral Russian or Belarusian athletes. "There is absolutely no independence of the sports community in Russia - including the national Olympic committee ROC - from the highest state organs," he said, opening a door for those opposed to the regime.
The Belarusian track and field athlete Kristina Timanovskaya can serve as an example. Her case and her spectacular flight to Poland caused a sensation internationally in the summer of 2021. She was due to be returned to her home country against her will after a run-in with sports officials at the Tokyo 2021 Olympics. She had then contacted the Japanese police and the International Olympic Committee and fled to Poland, which issued her with a humanitarian visa. She now also has a Polish passport and wants to compete for her new home country. But a three-year "quarantine" after a change of nationality would currently prevent them from starting at the games in Paris.
"From my point of view, it is elementary that the ROC does not nominate the athletes. Let's not fool ourselves: otherwise someone who is against the war against Ukraine will not be nominated," said the Polish Minister of Sports and recalled the Timanovskaya case: "Many athletes live outside of Russia and Belarus. If they had the opportunity, they would use it to oppose the authorities in their home countries and the war against Ukraine."
But whether only Russian and Belarusian "dissidents" will be allowed to take part in the Olympic Games as neutral athletes remains more than uncertain. Bortniczuk therefore sees few alternatives to the current scenario, which does not explicitly rule out a boycott. "We sports ministers can hardly be expected to remain silent when we see the IOC's attempts to allow Russian and Belarusian athletes to return. You cannot completely isolate the sports world from the war," said the Polish minister.
