Sixteen months before the opening ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) appears to be giving in to international pressure to maintain sanctions against Russia and Belarus for their invasion of Ukraine. This after its chairman, the German Thomas Bach, opened the door to the possible participation of athletes from those countries in the Games held in France, albeit without the symbols – flag and anthem – of the respective countries.
In a statement, the IOC assured on Wednesday that sanctions will be upheld, citing Russia and Belarus as “solely responsible” for a “pointless war”. The organization also considers the invasion to be “a flagrant violation of the Olympic Truce and the Olympic Charter” and in this sense stands with the Ukrainian athletes, believing they are committed to helping them face “indescribable difficulties”. For this reason, he announced that he had tripled the solidarity fund that “about 3000 athletes” have already benefited from, including financial and logistical support for the summer games in Paris and the winter games scheduled for 2026 in Italy.
This organization also mentions, in the communiqué marking a year after the invasion of Ukraine, that the vast majority of the Olympic movement, including athletes, national committees and international federations, “unwavering solidarity” with the Ukrainians and sanctions against Russia and the White -Russia.
This stance appears to reflect a series of pressures exerted in recent months, especially after Thomas Bach opened the door to the integration of Russian and Belarusian athletes, defending that “they cannot be punished for what the governments of their countries do”. , taking up the challenge of starting a “unifying mission” so as not to disadvantage those who intend to participate in international competitions. Incidentally, Bach defended that the suspension of athletes “was not part of the sanctions” and was only “a protective measure, to safeguard the integrity of competitions and athletes”.
The Baltic countries – Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania – immediately warned that they would not participate in the Games. Poland followed the same path and even the governments of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden sent a letter to the IOC expressing their support for Ukraine, saying that now is not the time to change the position they have taken.
Harder was Volodymyr Zelensky, president of Ukraine, who condemned the opening of the IOC. “While Russia kills and terrorizes, representatives of that terrorist state have no place in sports and Olympic competitions,” he said during a video conference with sports ministers from different countries. And it was this movement of 30 countries – including Portugal, France, Great Britain, Sweden, Poland, the United States and Canada – that threatened to boycott Paris 2024 if the idea of neutrality of Russian and Belarusian athletes is not clarified, defending at the same time that they cannot participate during the war in Ukraine. And in this context, they launched a series of questions, which they hope to see answered before making a decision.
Wednesday’s IOC statement can therefore be interpreted as a sign, although Germany’s Thomas Bach left a strong idea in January: “As history has shown, previous boycotts failed to achieve their political objectives and served only to punish athletes of the committees that boycott.” .”
Isolated plows. neutral tennis players
The truth is that since the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine, Russian sport has been in a situation of absolute isolation, as the teams and national teams were immediately banned from international competitions in several sports, including basketball, which contained three teams. the powerful Euroleague, which brings together the most important European teams.
The UEFA sanctions proved to have the greatest impact as they made it impossible for the Russian national football team to participate in the 2022 World Cup, being banned from entry to play-offs, but also omitted from the European Championship and Women’s World Cup. The main teams in the country did not have access to Champions League revenue and there was even the possibility of being integrated into Asian leagues, which has not happened yet.
Sanctions were less severe in tennis, as the most important Russian tennis players such as Daniil Medvedev or Andrey Rublev were allowed to participate, as well as Belarusians Aryna Sabalenka and Victoria Azarenka, but under a neutral flag. This after they were all excluded from last year’s Wimbledon, the first Grand Slam after the Russian invasion.
Shakhtar and Dnipro are ambassadors in Europe
Football is one of the great signs of elevation and pride for Ukrainians, especially with regard to the participation of Shakhtar Donetsk in the Europa League and Dnipro in the Conference League. They are authentic ambassadors of the country, not least because wherever they play they have had the support of many Ukrainians, something seen especially when they act as visitors, due to the security conditions in Warsaw (Poland) and Kosice (Slovakia). ). .
Ukrainian league matches take place in the country, but with stadium doors closed and matches interrupted when warnings of bombing arrive. Despite the uncertain scenario, 15 rounds have passed, with Dnipro leading by five points over Shakhtar, who has one game in hand.
The difficulties inherent in the war forced clubs to sell some of their best players, especially the new star of Ukrainian football, winger Mykhaylo Mudryk, who was sold by Shakhtar to Chelsea in January for €70 million. Incidentally, the club from Donetsk earned 114.8 million euros this season from the sale of athletes, including David Neres, who signed for 15.3 million euros with Benfica in the summer.
In Russia, domestic championships are proceeding normally, apparently indifferent to the war in Ukraine. This is despite the fact that some players left the country shortly after the invasion, including one of the rising stars of world football, Georgian Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, who left Rubin Kazan to return to his country, to Dinamo Batumi, and now stars in Naples.
It is curious that during the winter transfer window several players from the West went to Russia, some of whom left Portugal, such as Tomás Tavares, who transferred Benfica to Spartak Moscow for two million euros, but also the Brazilians Tassano and Léo Andrade. , who left Santa Clara and Marítimo respectively for FK Khimki. In the Russian league, Zenit continues to dominate, with six points ahead of Spartak Moscow on matchday 17.
Source: DN
