Since the highly condemned invasion of Ukraine in February, Russia and Belarus have been largely kept out of international sport.
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The Deputy Prime Minister of Russia Dmitry Chernyshenko has stated that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) is “subject to direct manipulation” from the US government. Since the highly condemned invasion of Ukraine in February, Russia and Belarus have been largely kept out of international sport, with the majority of International Federations agreeing to IOC recommendations that their athletes be barred from competing.
The IOC has stressed that this is a “protective measure,” and the Olympic Summit earlier this month considered a proposal to allow Russian and Belarussian athletes to compete as neutrals in Olympic Council of Asia qualifying events. However, it has stated that sanctions on both countries, including a ban on national symbols and events not hosted in Russia or Belarus, should stay in effect. Along with the Russian Olympic Committee and the Chinese Olympic Committee, the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) attended the Olympic Summit.
The outcome of the Olympic Summit was severely condemned in Ukraine, but the USOPC’s departing chair Susanne Lyons said delegates agreed that the IOC may examine a return for Russian and Belarusian athletes as neutrals in the best long-term interest of the Movement.
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“Unfortunately, the IOC is not an independent organization. As we can see, they are subject to direct influence from the US State Department and act absolutely on their orders. They adopted a resolution with one hand that the necessary measures should be taken for the participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes, though without a flag and an anthem. They understand that their product sags and degrades very much without our participation.”
“Bach (Thomas Bach) said at the G20 that it is unacceptable to exert political pressure, but in fact we see that this pressure continues. It is important that Russian and International Federations maintain a dialogue, they are trying to find ways for Russians to participate in competitions. The IOC is now also looking for an independent role. If it solves the problem of participation of Russians in the Olympics together with the Federations and does not allow the politicization and discrimination of Russian sports, from my point of view, this will strengthen its position,” Oleg Matytsin said to news channel Russia-24.
