ISU Statement on Russia's war against Ukraine - Participation in international competitions of Skaters and Officials from Russia and Belarus

[MacMadame]

"The west" absolutely doesn't want to forgive Russia and thinks they are the victims. We are all giving Ukraine tons of money and weapons and support (like intelligence briefings).

The only people who want to do that are Bach and maybe a few people in the IOC.

If they let Russia in, I'm not sure I will be watching the Olympics this time. It would be too gross every time a Russian was on my tv. I really, really, really hope the ISU will not go along with this. I'm not sure what I would do if Russian skaters started going to GP events, Euros/4CC, and Worlds.

 

[On My Own]

I've read the words "the west" on this website a few too many times...

 

[VGThuy]

I've read the words "the west" on this website a few too many times...

Take a break from the China thread

 

[coppertop1]

If Russia showed even a hint of accepting accountability, then maybe there could be a discussion of allowing them as neutral athletes but they're not. Their constant posting about how much figure skating, especially the women's skating, sucks without them speaks volumes.

 

[Hedwig]

"The west" absolutely doesn't want to forgive Russia and thinks they are the victims. We are all giving Ukraine tons of money and weapons and support (like intelligence briefings).

The only people who want to do that are Bach and maybe a few people in the IOC.

If they let Russia in, I'm not sure I will be watching the Olympics this time. It would be too gross every time a Russian was on my tv. I really, really, really hope the ISU will not go along with this. I'm not sure what I would do if Russian skaters started going to GP events, Euros/4CC, and Worlds.

I agree. I am always ready to vomit if certain posters only speak about Russian skaters and how they would stack up in current competitions threads. I could not stomach watching any of them just now.

@airgelaal - condeming „the West“ is a bit unfair though. There have been countless conflicts over the years and are indeed happening right now and often with a clear aggressor but very few times there was such help from other countries and that with the people in those countries really feeling the burden of it. I know we do.
I also know that it is the right thing to do and that we have it easy compared to Ukraine but a little appreciation for that would not go amiss either. ;-)

 

[coppertop1]

I agree. I am always ready to vomit if certain posters only speak about Russian skaters and how they would stack up in current competitions threads. I could not stomach watching any of them just now.

The Russians and their fans should just watch their own Fake Grand Prix instead of constantly spewing their bile on the other competitions.

 

[MacMadame]

I also know that it is the right thing to do and that we have it easy compared to Ukraine but a little appreciation for that would not go amiss either. ;-)

I don't need appreciation; just don't shit on me.

 

[hoptoad]

I'm sick of how the West wants to reconcile everyone and calls the russians victims. russian athletes calmly train at the expense of the state, receive a huge prize money from the state. So let's let them compete and tell the whole world that they are victims and how they suffered. And then the state will reward them again.
And at that very time, after another attack, there was no electricity at all in my native Odesa. How will athletes from Odesa have to compete with these victims from russia?
The russians are mocking the whole world, and the world is intensely looking for ways to help them in this.

Let's just say "too many people" period.

 

[Vagabond]

I've read the words "the west" on this website a few too many times...

Context is everything. Where I live, places like New York, Chicago, and even Austin are not in the west.

 

[Karen-W]

Context is everything. Where I live, places like New York, Chicago, and even Austin are not in the west.

Welllllll... technically, Chicago and Austin could be, nominally, considered "west"... If you include "Mid" and "South" ahead of "west" respectively, lol.

 

[Vagabond]

Welllllll... technically, Chicago and Austin could be, nominally, considered "west"... If you include "Mid" and "South" ahead of "west" respectively, lol.

Never!

 

[MacMadame]

And Ohio is NOT on the East Coast.

Also, not to be too repetitive, but the IOC sucks. What is wrong with them?

 

[coppertop1]

And Ohio is NOT on the East Coast.

Also, not to be too repetitive, but the IOC sucks. What is wrong with them?

They're in Russia's pocket.

 

[MacMadame]

They're in Russia's pocket.

But why? There has to be bribery involved.

 

[coppertop1]

But why? There has to be bribery involved.

Very likely. And who knows what else

 

[Hedwig]

I don't know if it is bribery or just a huge market in Russia and them willing to pay for tv rights etc pp.

I understand that the Olympics has mostly become about money and that they care about the huge Russian market.

Question is how much revenue they will lose from the rest of the world if they let Russia back in with the stupid ideas they have right now.

I am not sure if I wanted to watch in that case. I would probably follow results but maybe not able to watch. But maybe a lot of people would not feel as strongly and they would not lose as much money as they are losing now?

 

[Holy Headband]

Guys... why is everyone acting like the IOC are letting Russia compete at the Olympics in response to a news story about the IOC banning Russia from the Olympics?

Competing under a neutral flag as a stateless athlete has been an option for decades and it is not at all the same thing as what Russia was forced to do at the last several Olympics. A Russian athlete competing under the IOC flag in Paris or Milano would be for sure someone without any support from their national federation, most likely someone who hasn't lived in Russia for years and possibly a political dissident.

They mentioned it as a possibility in the press release alongside switching federations because these are indeed ways for a Russian-born athlete to still compete at the Olympics, but it's pretty clear the Tchaikovsky anthem days are over.

 

[reut]

To be fair it's more than just "Bach and maybe a few people in the IOC".
I posted link in a different thread but relevant here, too:
https://olympics.com/ioc/news/declaration-of-the-11th-olympic-summit

Among other personalities mentioned there in the part where they talk about "how to overcome this extremely grave dilemma" (this wording is absolutely not out of proportion) are UN Human Rights and UN Gen Assembly.

They express “serious concern about the recommendation to ban Russian and Belarusian athletes and officials such as judges from international competitions, based solely on their nationality, as a matter of principle. This raises serious issues of non-discrimination.”

(Next time I see "serious concern" I'll vomit )

 

[Vagabond]

Guys... why is everyone acting like the IOC are letting Russia compete at the Olympics in response to a news story about the IOC banning Russia from the Olympics?

Because they are letting Russians compete. This option was not given to individual South African athletes (of any race) when their country was banned.

[SARCASM] Apparently, invading another country and threatening nuclear war isn't all that bad in the grand scheme of things. [/SARCASM]

 

[Holy Headband]

Because they are letting Russians compete. This option was not given to individual South African athletes (of any race) when their country was banned.

[SARCASM] Apparently, invading another country and threatening nuclear war isn't all that bad in the grand scheme of things. [/SARCASM]

Actually the IOC did allow a lot of South Africans to switch federations in the 1980s, but they only started letting individuals compete at the Olympics as stateless athletes in 1992. They let in a bunch of Yugoslav athletes that year despite the country being under heavy international sanctions at the time, much like what the IOC did with Russia in 2018, 2020 and 2022 (in terms of workaround methods, I mean, not the nature of the sanctions).

It seems obvious from their public messaging, however, that for the foreseeable future the IOC will abandon the OAR fig leaf approach and go back to a model more similar to what they had in 2016, when only one Russian athlete was allowed to participate in the Summer Games. The OAR situation was the result of open cooperation with the Russian state, which the IOC is not doing at the moment. Evaluating individual athletes from a rogue state that’s hostile to you for proof of exceptional circumstances is not the same as negotiating a blanket compromise on doping sanctions to lubricate a longstanding institutional partnership with the Russian state.

Basically they’re saying that someone like Daria Kasatkina, who lives and trains outside of Russia, is openly gay and has spoken out against the war, might be able to petition the IOC for exceptional status and participate. If you think that’s too soft and unfair to Ukrainians, sure, whatever. But it’s clearly not the same situation as before.

 

[MacMadame]

I don't know if it is bribery or just a huge market in Russia and them willing to pay for tv rights etc pp.

But how much money do they actually have right now? As long as the war goes on and sanctions are in place, their economy is not going to support giving millions, perhaps billions (like NBC did), of dollars to the IOC.

South Africa started being sanctioned when I was a child so I don't know how people reacted but I wonder if there were a lot of people like this who are whining about how it wasn't fair and talking about discrimination. If they were, then they suck too.

 

[VGThuy]

But how much money do they actually have right now? As long as the war goes on and sanctions are in place, their economy is not going to support giving millions, perhaps billions (like NBC did), of dollars to the IOC.

South Africa started being sanctioned when I was a child so I don't know how people reacted but I wonder if there were a lot of people like this who are whining about how it wasn't fair and talking about discrimination. If they were, then they suck too.

I bet you there were.

 

[Hedwig]

Basically they’re saying that someone like Daria Kasatkina, who lives and trains outside of Russia, is openly gay and has spoken out against the war, might be able to petition the IOC for exceptional status and participate. If you think that’s too soft and unfair to Ukrainians, sure, whatever. But it’s clearly not the same situation as before.

If that is what they are saying, that would be very okay for me. But I don't even trust them as far as I can throw them (and I am not very strong so I would not be able to throw the IOC very far indeed).

 

[Holy Headband]

If that is what they are saying, that would be very okay for me. But I don't even trust them as far as I can throw them (and I am not very strong so I would not be able to throw the IOC very far indeed).

Well, 2024 is still a long ways away, to say nothing of 2026. I’m pretty sure I’m right about their current posture, but yes, the IOC are a spineless joke, so they may have a change of heart (or five) between now and the actual Olympics.

 

[Vagabond]

Basically they’re saying that someone like Daria Kasatkina, who lives and trains outside of Russia, is openly gay and has spoken out against the war, might be able to petition the IOC for exceptional status and participate. If you think that’s too soft and unfair to Ukrainians, sure, whatever. But it’s clearly not the same situation as before.

I don't see any good reason why there should be an exception for Kastakina when there were no such exceptions for similarly placed South Africans.

But let's not stop there. Why should someone like Mark Kondratiuk, who has openly supported the war, be able to compete as a "neutral" athlete even though victims of apartheid who stayed in their own country were not?

 

[coppertop1]

Why should Russia be allowed back, period? Between the doping and the war, enough is enough. They've had plenty of chances.

 

[Aussie Willy]

Why should Russia be allowed back, period? Between the doping and the war, enough is enough. They've had plenty of chances.

Totally agree. I heard on the weekend that the IOC were considering having them allowed to compete through a backdoor. Disgusting.

 

[coppertop1]

Totally agree. I heard on the weekend that the IOC were considering having them allowed to compete through a backdoor. Disgusting.

It's ridiculous. I can't see them being received well at all by the athletes or the audience. The athletes were already getting more vocal about their displeasure towards Russia.

 

[airgelaal]

But how much money do they actually have right now? As long as the war goes on and sanctions are in place, their economy is not going to support giving millions, perhaps billions (like NBC did), of dollars to the IOC.

They will give you so much more! Sport is the only area where they can openly show their greatness. It is for the sake of this that maximum money is being poured into sports in russia now. To return in triumph as soon as possible. And they will use sports as propaganda to the maximum.
And it will be a disaster. This will negate almost all efforts.

 

[Frau Muller]

… Sport is the only area where they can openly show their greatness…..

Not just sport. Also in ballet performances/tours. Ballet is basically dead…Ukrainian pick-up tours are NOT Bolshoi or Mariinsky.