Ulcerated by the possible participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes under a neutral banner in the Olympic Games (OG) in Paris in 2024, the Ukrainian presidency raised its tone on Monday against the International Olympic Committee (IOC), accusing it of being “a promoter of the war “.
“The IOC is a promoter of war, murder and destruction. The IOC watches with pleasure as Russia destroys Ukraine and then offers Russia a platform to promote the genocide” of the Ukrainians, presidential adviser Mykhaïlo Podoliak tweeted.
“Obviously the money that buys Olympic hypocrisy does not smell of Ukrainian blood. Right, Mr. Bach? “, he dropped, personally targeting Thomas Bach, the German president of the Olympic body.
The IOC, which had “recommended” at the end of February 2022 to the international federations to exclude the Russians and Belarusians from their competitions after the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, has not yet decided anything and leaves to each federation the task of reintegrating them or keeping them apart.
The Lausanne-based organization also “rejects”, “in the strongest terms”, Mr. Podoliak’s statement “and other defamatory remarks”, which “cannot serve as a basis for any constructive discussion”, a spokesperson told AFP.
“Non-discrimination” of athletes
But last Wednesday, after a series of closed-door consultations with representatives of athletes and the Olympic world, the IOC provoked the ire of kyiv by proposing a roadmap to organize the return of banned athletes under neutral flag, provided that they did not “actively support the war in Ukraine”.
“No athlete should be banned from competition on the sole basis of his passport”, reaffirmed in a press release the executive of the Olympic body, a proclamation of principle supported this weekend by the Association of National Olympic Committees.
On the side of international federations, the only ones empowered to decide who participates in their competitions, gymnastics and judo – two major Olympic sports – welcomed on Friday the principle of “non-discrimination” of athletes, and “independence” of sport in the face of the Politics.
“There are still many obstacles to overcome before allowing Russian and Belarusian gymnasts to compete in international competitions. But sport is about making the impossible possible,” added the International Gymnastics Federation.
But while waiting for each body to decide for its discipline, the IOC is concentrating criticism from Ukraine, which threatened Thursday to boycott the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, as well as from the British government and the Danish Olympic Committee, opposed to a Russian involvement.
The army at the heart of Russian sport
Especially since the IOC’s proposals on Wednesday constituted a clear dismissal of the claims of kyiv, which intended to see the Russians and Belarusians excluded in advance from the 2024 Olympics, without waiting for the evolution of the conflict.
Furious, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday denounced the “hypocrisy” of the IOC and invited Thomas Bach to visit Bakhmout, one of the hottest points of the war with Russia.
On Sunday, in his daily address, the Ukrainian head of state said he had written a new letter to French President Emmanuel Macron on this subject. “Olympism and terrorist states must not cross paths,” said Mr. Zelensky.
On Monday morning, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba for his part pointed out that 45 of the 71 Russian medals at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo – won under a neutral banner since the country was excluded for organized doping – had been won by member athletes. of CSKA, the Central Sports Club of the Russian Army, or “the army that commits atrocities, kills, rapes and plunders”.
“That’s who the ignorant IOC wants to put under a white flag to allow them to compete,” castigated the minister.
According to the Russian Ministry of Defense website dedicated to CSKA, the club had around 10,000 licensees in 2020, and had won 1,399 medals in Olympic history.