IOC’s decision to allow Russian and Belarusian athletes back sparks outrage

IOC criticized for pushing the decision on Russia’s participation in the Paris Games to someone else

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has come under fire after pushing the decision on Russia’s participation in the upcoming Paris Games to someone else. The ban on Russia and Belarus was imposed after the invasion of Ukraine, and evidence suggests that banning Russian athletes has only gotten stronger. However, the IOC did not discuss their eligibility for Paris or the Winter Games in Milan and Cortina in 2026.

Athletes react negatively to IOC’s guidelines for welcoming back Russian and Belarusian athletes

Guidelines provided by the IOC for sports federations to welcome back athletes from Russia and Belarus are seen as doing the organization’s dirty work. Russia’s reaction to the guidelines has been negative, calling the parameters announced as unacceptable. Ukrainian skeleton star Vladyslav Heraskevych calls the IOC’s decision a “slap in the face” and believes it is a shocking decision for him and his compatriots.

More than 300 active and former fencers wrote to the IOC urging them to uphold sanctions against Russian and Belarusian athletes, saying that allowing them entry back into international competitions would be “a catastrophic error.” US and more than 30 other “likeminded” countries also backed a proposed ban of Russian and Belarusian athletes from competing in international sports.

Ukraine condemns partial change of position by the IOC

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has cataloged thousands of cases of civilian casualties in the Ukraine conflict in the six months to the end of January, along with cases of torture, rape and arbitrary detention. Athletes with Russian or Belarusian passports must compete only as individual neutral athletes and meet all antidoping requirements, while those who support the war or are contracted to military or national service cannot compete. Despite these guidelines, Ukraine’s sports ministry has condemned the partial change of the IOC’s position, calling it unacceptable.

Russian and Belarusian athletes to return to international competitions

The IOC has issued guidelines to allow the return of Russian and Belarusian athletes to world sport, saying they would do so as neutral athletes without a flag, emblem or anthem citing human rights concerns and the current participation of Russians and Belarusians in some sports as reasons for the decision. While some athletes have expressed confusion and concern over how Russians and Belarusians can compete again and whether doping will come into play, the decision has been welcomed by others.

Ukrainian tennis player Marta Kostyuk objected to IOC President Thomas Bach’s argument during a conference call with Olympic champions and other international athletes that Russian and Belarusian athletes could already compete without friction in some sports. Kostyuk and fellow Ukrainian Lesia Tsurenko have been fighting to exclude Russians and Belarusians from their sport but do not have the power to make changes because they work for WTA and ATP organizations.

In conclusion, the IOC’s decision to allow Russian and Belarusian athletes back into international competitions has sparked outrage from many athletes who feel it is a slap in the face for those affected by the conflict in Ukraine. While some have welcomed the decision, others have condemned it as discriminatory. The controversy surrounding this decision is likely to persist for some time to come.

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