So far, Russian and Belarusian athletes have been banned from most competitions because of the war of aggression against Ukraine. But IOC President Bach wants to give them the chance to take part in the 2024 Olympics. The Ukrainian President cannot understand this and countered with an unpleasant travel offer.
Volodymyr Zelenskyj's reply was not long in coming - and it left nothing to be desired in terms of clarity. "I'm inviting Mr. Bach to Bakhmut, where he can see for himself that neutrality doesn't exist," the Ukrainian president was quoted as saying by the French news agency AFP. "It's obvious that every neutral banner of Russian athletes is stained with blood. "
Thomas Bach and the IOC he leads had previously announced that they were open to a return of Russian athletes to world sport. Bach reinforced this attitude on the sidelines of the Luge World Championships in Oberhof. "It is not in line with the values and mission of the Olympic Charter to exclude athletes because of their passport," said Bach. "Possibly", "Russian and Belarusian athletes under a neutral flag" could start at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
It was impossible "not to be disappointed by the attitude of the IOC President," Zelenskyy replied. He spoke to Bach "more than once" and was never able to see "how he wanted to protect the sport from wartime propaganda by allowing Russian athletes to compete internationally."
According to Bach, a possible boycott of Ukraine's Olympics in Paris, as the Ukrainian Minister of Sport Wadym Hutzajt threatened on Thursday, "would not be in line with our mission. We know the view of Ukraine, which not only wants to isolate Russia as a state, but also the total isolation of all Russians," said the 69-year-old.
Boycott: Bach's trauma. The West boycotted Moscow in 1980, and the Eastern bloc counter-boycotted four years later in Los Angeles. Sport, Bach decided at the time, must be absolutely neutral "in order to be able to survive, to be able to do justice to its function as a bridge builder, but it cannot be apolitical".
The bridges between Russia and Ukraine no longer exist, they have been bombed out - like numerous places, halls, training facilities in Ukraine and thus the basis for a peaceful and fair competition. The Russian regime with Bach's former partner Vladimir Putin is responsible for this. The IOC knows this too, and sharply condemned the invasion of the Russian army on February 24, just three days after the closing ceremony of the 2022 Winter Games, and recommended sanctions.
And that has been pushing the reintegration of Russian and Belarusian athletes for months. Subject to conditions, as "neutral athletes", with a guaranteed rejection of the atrocities of their state leadership. "Unacceptable for our country," said Hutzajt - and knows allies at his side. Among them: Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser. In the "Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung" she spoke of a "completely wrong path" that the IOC was taking.
"Sport should be clear in its condemnation of the brutal war that Putin is waging against the Ukrainian civilian population," Faeser demanded. "The international sports federations remain responsible for positioning themselves clearly." The IOC has passed on this responsibility, pointing out that an "overwhelming majority" supports the return under "strict conditions".
This also includes the German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB), which defends the mission of world sport to "bring people together in peaceful competition". With the necessary sanctions, with a functioning anti-doping system and a clearly visible neutrality of Russian and Belarusian athletes and their distance from the war - but as soon as possible, since the qualifications for Paris 2024 begin.
"We haven't gotten to that point yet," said Maximilian Klein from the independent association Athleten Deutschland on ZDF's "Morgenmagazin". The plan comes "at the wrong time. Russia is continuing the brutal war of aggression and intensifying its attacks on the Ukrainian civilian population," said Klein: "That's why we can't talk about allowing Russian athletes again."
