Russian athletes may be invited to the Paris Olympic Games next summer despite the suspension of their national Olympic committee, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said on Friday.
Its president, Thomas Bach, commented on the matter 24 hours after the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) was suspended for adding sports councils in four occupied regions of Ukraine.
Isolating the NRC from millions of dollars in revenue provided by the IOC will not affect the individual evaluation process of Russian athletes, who could obtain neutral athlete status, helping them qualify. in view of the Paris Games.
“There will be personal invitations, which we will manage with the international federations and, if necessary, with the national federations,” Bach said at a press conference.
Bach reiterated the IOC’s current position, “that athletes are not sanctioned for actions committed by their leaders or governments.”
Despite everything, members of the COR board of directors, like the former pole vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva, who are still members or honorary members of the IOC, can benefit from privileges, such as attending the Mumbai meetings every expenses paid.
“They are not representatives of Russia in the IOC,” Bach said. They are representatives of the IOC in Russia. »
Asked about talks between the IOC and Russian leaders before the sanction was imposed, Bach said Moscow was aware that the Duma had passed a law annexing the targeted regions of Ukraine.
“The COR has done nothing but follow this law,” Bach said. This is, in short, the essence of their response. »
The IOC intervened because, according to it, the territorial violation contravened the Olympic Charter.
In a similar case in 2016, the IOC did not intervene when the Russian Olympic Committee incorporated sports federations from Crimea and Sevastopol.
“We cannot make this comparison, since the IOC never accepted the annexation of Crimea,” Bach defended. In fact, when this issue surfaced in 2016, we did not have a problem regarding the nationality of athletes participating in the Olympic Games. [de Rio de Janeiro]. »
Four months after these Summer Games, the COR joined the Crimean sports federations.
The IOC’s position on the war in Ukraine has softened in the past year. The organization adopted a more severe position a few days after the invasion of Ukraine, in February 2022. The IOC then asked international federations to exclude athletes and teams from Russia.
Bach has already recalled the seriousness of the action taken by Russia, which notably contravened the Olympic Truce, supported by the United Nations, by launching this invasion four days after the closing ceremony of the Winter Olympic Games in Beijing.
On Friday, he repeated the IOC’s claims that athletes from around the world, particularly from Africa, want athletes from Russia who did not support this war to be able to return to competition.