(Lausanne) The International Olympic Committee wants to “explore ways” to reintegrate Russian and Belarusian athletes, banned from international competitions since the end of February due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, its president Thomas Bach announced on Wednesday.
“We need to explore ways to overcome this dilemma, about athlete participation, to get back to sporting merits and not political interference,” the leader told reporters.
This position of the IOC is not new, but Thomas Bach dwelt on it at length, without outlining any avenues or deadlines: “this requires other consultations and they are in progress, so there is no fixed date”, he eluded.
Since the invasion of Ukraine in the middle of the Olympic truce, during the Winter Games in Beijing, the IOC distinguishes the “sanctions” inflicted on the Russian and Belarusian states from the “protection measures” concerning athletes, which are in no way considered responsible for the actions of their governments.
“There is no change in our position. The sanctions must remain in place”, ie the prohibition of the flags of the two countries and the competitions on their soil because of the “violation of the Olympic Charter”, recalled the boss of Olympism.
But the banning of Russian and Belarusian athletes, “recommended” by the IOC to international federations at the end of February, has always been presented by the Olympic body as a measure aimed at protecting the integrity of competitions and the safety of athletes, taken “with a heavy heart” and likely to be reassessed regularly.
“We had to act against our own values”, doing “what we had never done and never wanted to do, which is to prevent athletes from competing solely because of their passports”, recalled Thomas Bach.
After a debate within the IOC Executive Board which lasted “four hours” on Wednesday morning, the subject will also be on the menu of the 11e Olympic Summit Friday in Lausanne, behind closed doors, with representatives of international federations and three national Olympic committees: those of China, the United States and Russia.