Paris Games | Olympic Games under tension

The planet is tense? The Olympic Games too. Between the absence of Russia and the contested presence of Israel, Paris 2024 is looking for the right balance.

The most political since the end of the Cold War

The Olympic Games have always been a reflection of the global situation. And this 2024 edition will be no exception, believes Jean-Baptiste Guégan, a professor of sports geopolitics at Sciences Po. For this expert, these Games will be the most political to take place since the end of the Cold War, due to the international context, particularly the conflicts in the Gaza Strip and Ukraine. “You have all the conditions that we had at the time of the Cold War and you add a quantity of risks and threats that we had never had before,” specifies Mr. Guégan. He cites the “informational digital risk”, the “risk of cyberattack”, the “terrorist risk” and even the “health risk” due to the return of COVID. Not to mention the “organizational risk”, France is never safe from a strike or a hiccup…

The absence of Russia (and Belarus)

The relationship between Russia and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has been at loggerheads since the doping scandal surrounding the 2014 Sochi Games. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 exacerbated these tensions. In the wake of sanctions against Moscow, the IOC banned the Russian and Belarusian Olympic committees from international competitions. But it has gradually reversed its decision, allowing a number of Russian and Belarusian athletes to participate, under neutral banners and under certain conditions, namely not having links to the Russian military and not expressing pro-war positions. Thirty-one athletes duly qualified taking these constraints into account. According to a report published this week by the NGO Global Rights Compliance, a dozen Russian athletes have not respected this agreement, such as the Russian cyclist Alena Ivanchenko, who is said to have “liked” a publication on social networks where Stalin can be seen with the quote: “A truce with the enemy is possible after its destruction.”

Israel’s contested presence

Why exclude the Russian Olympic Committee and not that of Israel, considering the more than 38,000 deaths in the Gaza Strip over the past nine months? Some see this as an example of a policy of “double standards.” Among the arguments put forward to explain this difference in treatment, there is the fact that Russia is waging a “war of aggression,” while Israel was only responding to the Hamas attack of October 7, 2023. In addition, the exclusion of Russia follows the train of international sanctions, and crowns 10 years of tensions with the IOC.

Jean-Baptiste Géguan nevertheless agrees that the rules of the International Olympic Committee are difficult to read. “Indeed, it is an inconsistency,” he agrees. “We are faced with a contradiction in the Olympic movement which means that, sometimes, the geometry of the sanctions can be variable.”

The expert, however, points out that the Olympics would lose many participants if we started excluding all the countries that have a stain on their record. “If we prevent the Israelis, then we remove the Chinese because of the Uighurs and Taiwan, the Saudis who have been financing the war in Yemen for 10 years, Eritrea which is an open-air prison, we could ask the question of the presence of Venezuela which has an authoritarian leader… that would make at least 60 countries less.”

Earlier this week, the Palestinian Olympic Committee requested the exclusion of Israeli athletes, on the grounds that Israel had violated the Olympic truce after carrying out bombings on Gaza “which resulted in civilian casualties.” A late move, which surprised sports sociologist Carole Gomez, from the Institute of International and Strategic Relations (IRIS). “We can wonder why this request was not made earlier,” wonders M^me Gomez: Maybe the Palestinian Olympic Committee wanted to wait until the Olympic truce began to have more effect.

A “branding” challenge for France

After legislative elections with unexpected consequences, France will be at the center of global attention by hosting the Olympic Games. For Jean-Baptiste Guégan, this implies a lot of pressure for France, which partly depends on this event to consolidate its international image and make people forget the negative representations (attacks, yellow vests, rise of the extreme right). “We really have a national branding imperative,” he says.

“The slightest organizational glitch will be seen by the rest of the world,” adds Carole Gomez. In the same way, if everything goes as planned, if records are broken, it will also be a way for France to highlight its symbolic power, its sporting power and its diplomatic power.” The expert advises following the diplomatic ballet that will take place in the VIP stand during the opening ceremony. Who will President Emmanuel Macron sit with, who will he shake hands with, who will he spend time with? This is the national story being told there.

Sino-American Rivalry

The significant tensions between the United States and China have been somewhat forgotten in recent months. It is not out of the question that these tensions will resurface during the Games, considering that it is a major issue for these two states to succeed in the Olympics and show their superiority over the other. “This opposition will be played out at all levels. In terms of sport, but also in the authorities. How the national committees will react. How anti-doping will react, how the heads of state will react.” Questions that also apply to Taiwan, which could want to take advantage of these Games to fuel its national narrative against China.

South Sudan: A country to watch

On a more positive note, Jean-Baptiste Guégan suggests paying attention to South Sudan, independent since 2011 and the most recent member country of the UN. He particularly insists on the “incredible” basketball team, which almost beat the United States in a preparatory match. “If there is one thing to watch, it is that,” specifies Mr. Guégan. “They are really going to use these Games to mark the presence of South Sudan on the map and make this country exist. The players are aware of it, they say so themselves…”

The end of national jerseys?

Are the Games apolitical? In theory, perhaps. In practice, we see that it is quite the opposite. As long as participants are classified by country, Olympic neutrality will remain a myth, even hypocrisy. “The only solution for the IOC would be to put an end to national jerseys,” concludes Patrick Clastres, professor at the University of Lausanne and author of several writings on the history of the Olympic Games. “There are many sports where there are no more, like tennis. Belonging to a country is an emotional driver that has been reactivated by the international press, which thrives on this niche and serves the cause of nationalist movements well. The IOC is caught in this trap…”