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

[Lanja]

Jean-Loup Chappelet of the University of Lausanne said that one consideration for the IOC is that Russia will take a ban to CAS and the IOC might very well lose. He also brought up the diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Olys, but said it's early days yet and countries like the US, Canada, and UK are probably going to wait and see how sponsors and media feel. A campaign to target advertisers/sponsors and efforts to keep the issue in the media might work, in that case.

Hidalgo saying what she did is quite interesting -- especially given that as recently as last month she was in favour of Russian & Belarusian athletes participating as neutrals, but now her first deputy says that she has reviewed the situation and changed her mind and her position is "very clear, and, I believe, also that of many countries and sporting federations." If that is true then perhaps national feds can successfully apply pressure to international governing bodies.

 

[Lilia A]

Jean-Loup Chappelet of the University of Lausanne said that one consideration for the IOC is that Russia will take a ban to CAS and the IOC might very well lose. He also brought up the diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Olys, but said it's early days yet and countries like the US, Canada, and UK are probably going to wait and see how sponsors and media feel. A campaign to target advertisers/sponsors and efforts to keep the issue in the media might work, in that case.

So let them take the case to CAS. And if they lose, appeal to the Swiss courts. If they still lose, at least they can say they went down fighting for the sake of integrity and respect. But to say welcome back, kids, try not to sing your national anthem too loudly when we play the Olympic anthem during medal ceremonies is an entirely different story.

 

[reut]

(I don't think I saw this published here, but maybe I missed)

So on January 31th IOC sent a - rude and hypocritical if you ask me - letter to the President of the NOC of Ukraine, Vadym Gutzeit:
https://static1.squarespace.com/sta...-_LE_-_President_of_NOC_of_Ukraine_-_eng_.pdf

And this is the joint statement from Ukrainian athletes and Global Athlete as an answer to it:
https://www.globalathlete.org/our-word/ioc-welcomes-russia-and-threatens-to-suspend-ukraine

 

[VGThuy]

What a horrible, condescending letter. Trying to shame the NOC of Ukraine into submission and stating they are the ones going against the “Olympic movement” and are “out-of-step” with every other NOC and stakeholder. That was all kinds of gross and it makes me not care if the Olympics was canceled until new blood takes charge.

 

[reut]

Now, about "vast majority of stakeholders" supporting IOC's suggestion, interesting story about how it happened with Norwegian representatives, for example:

Astrid Uhrenholdt Jacobsen, one of Norway's two IOC members, alongside Kristin Kloster Aasen, admitted having advised the IOC that Norway supported the proposal to admit neutral Russian and Belarusian competitors to the Olympic Games in Paris next year. In a stormy meeting of Norway's 55 sports federations, cross-country skier Jacobsen was confronted with the accusation that her statement to the IOC had been the exact opposite of the majority national view

https://www.insidethegames.biz/articles/1133244/jacobsen-russia-paris-2024

 

[thvu]

The IOC is absolutely disgusting. Russia literally used the Olympics as cover to stage a war. I’ve stopped watching tennis due to their welcoming Russian athletes with open arms (aside from Wimbledon).

What sense is this? Letting in athletes whose sponsor is actively engaging in an illegal war and committing genocide? How is this upholding the Olympic spirit?

 

[Spikefan]

That letter is gross and tone deaf. I’m done with the Olympics if Russia is allowed to compete. I was so excited for Paris but now I’m just disgusted.

 

[Firedancer]

The UK is hosting a summit of 30 nations tomorrow including France, Germany, Poland, the US and Canada “to assess other countries’ positions and consider the potential for a firm collective view in response to the IOC.” Hoping they can come together so the IOC has no choice.

https://www.insidethegames.biz/articles/1133509/lucy-frazer-summit-russia-belarus-paris

 

[coppertop1]

There shouldn't be any questions about allowing Russia back! The IOC is pathetic.

 

[Primorskaya]

The IOC is absolutely disgusting. Russia literally used the Olympics as cover to stage a war. I’ve stopped watching tennis due to their welcoming Russian athletes with open arms (aside from Wimbledon).

What sense is this? Letting in athletes whose sponsor is actively engaging in an illegal war and committing genocide? How is this upholding the Olympic spirit?

Big money and sport don't mix, or rather, shouldn't. I mean look at FIFA. There's no bigger money than in football and there's no sports body more corrupt -although the IOC are clearly having a go. I didn't watch the last World Cup because of the human and environmental outrage it was but I may make this permanent. Same for Olympics. It's a small sacrifice but there's a limit to what I'm willing to condone.

 

[caseyedwards]

I’m very glad. Russia is not Putin. Russians are not the war. Even if they support it -it is support it or die. It is evil autocratic dictatorship. Allowances must be given. No one who says they support the war should really be believed at face value

 

[greenapple]

I’m very glad. Russia is not Putin. Russians are not the war. Even if they support it -it is support it or die. It is evil autocratic dictatorship. Allowances must be given. No one who says they support the war should really be believed at face value

This is your biased, unsubstantiated opinion - one that is not rooted in any factual evidence. How could you possibly know that people who publicly support the war actually do not?

Thankfully, the free world is uniting to keep the ban on Russia in place.

 

[airgelaal]

Another letter of he President of the NOC of Ukraine Vadym Gutzeit to the IOC about "neutrality" of russian athletes

https://noc-ukr.org/news/23264/

 

[Bigbird]

This is your biased, unsubstantiated opinion - one that is not rooted in any factual evidence. How could you possibly know that people who publicly support the war actually do not?

Thankfully, the free world is uniting to keep the ban on Russia in place.

Not that I am completely supportive of all comments but we do see what was done to Navalny, correct? This is not a free country. This is an alternate universe.

 

[Dub16]

Oh please...

Yes, please learn history. It's not like it is a secret.

Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[zee703]

The Russians have been allowed to participate in several Olympics despite having been caught cheating via drugs over & over. It's way past time to ban them from the Olympics...the games that are supposed to promote friendship & good will amongst all the participating athletes. What that miserable country has done to the people of Ukraine is disgusting.

 

[LeafOnTheWind]

nm

 

[LeafOnTheWind]

NM

 

[caseyedwards]

The Russians have been allowed to participate in several Olympics despite having been caught cheating via drugs over & over. It's way past time to ban them from the Olympics...the games that are supposed to promote friendship & good will amongst all the participating athletes. What that miserable country has done to the people of Ukraine is disgusting.

The problem is that why is Ukraine the final straw why not Georgia or Syria. And why wasn’t this applied to the United States for Iraq? And Olympics is supposed to be about bringing together all the worlds countries and ignoring politics

 

[kwanfan1818]

Rick Westhead tweeted:

Canadian government opposes participation of athletes from Russia and Belarus in the Olympics in Paris next summer.

and retweeted Pascale St. Onge's tweet:

Canada's position is clear: Russian and Belarusian athletes must be banned from the 2024 Olympic Games. I have reiterated this to my international counterparts and to President @ZelenskyyUa.

Let's stand in solidarity with Ukraine.

 

[Nadya]

Not that I am completely supportive of all comments but we do see what was done to Navalny, correct? This is not a free country. This is an alternate universe.

Since when is this a requirement for participation in the Olympics?

 

[Nadya]

The problem is that why is Ukraine the final straw why not Georgia or Syria. And why wasn’t this applied to the United States for Iraq? And Olympics is supposed to be about bringing together all the worlds countries and ignoring politics

You know why.

 

[airgelaal]

Since when is this a requirement for participation in the Olympics?

Always was

5. In order to fulfil their mission, the NOCs may cooperate with governmental bodies, with which they shall achieve harmonious relations. However, they shall not associate themselves with any activity which would be in contradiction with the Olympic Charter. The NOCs may also cooperate with non-governmental bodies.
6. The NOCs must preserve their autonomy and resist all pressures of any kind, including but not limited to political, legal, religious or economic pressures which may prevent them from complying with the Olympic Charter.

https://stillmed.olympic.org/media/Document%20Library/OlympicOrg/General/EN-Olympic-Charter.pdf

 

[airgelaal]

Letter from Zelensky thanking Global Athlete for standing with Ukrainian athletes

https://twitter.com/x/status/1625567054643269650

 

[Nadya]

Always was

https://stillmed.olympic.org/media/Document%20Library/OlympicOrg/General/EN-Olympic-Charter.pdf

You know that's meaningless, right?

 

[airgelaal]

You know that's meaningless, right?

Because that's what the russians want?

 

[On My Own]

Always was

https://stillmed.olympic.org/media/Document%20Library/OlympicOrg/General/EN-Olympic-Charter.pdf

Huh, really? Wonder how it's actually applied, because who really thinks North Korea fulfills either of these?

 

[figureskating]

The problem is that why is Ukraine the final straw why not Georgia or Syria. And why wasn’t this applied to the United States for Iraq? And Olympics is supposed to be about bringing together all the worlds countries and ignoring politics

When Russia was fighting to get Donetsk & Lugansk or annexed a Crimea, no one cared (at least not enough to ban them from the olympics). But there is a difference between fighting for a piece of land (which is still terrible), and claiming that the other country/nation does not exist (and destroing it).


BTW Following Putin's thinking... If Ukraine is not a real country and Ukrainians are really Russians, Russians don't need their own sportsmen at the olympics. They can support Ukraine

 

[Lanja]

I'm seeing a surprising (to me) number of "people support me in the DMs"-type comments from Russian athletes and non-Russians who support a Russian return...the latest are Martin Fourcade, the French biathlete and IOC athlete representative, and cross-country skiier Alexander Bolshunov. Any know if there are similar feelings among skaters?

 

[Winnipeg]

I stand by the rule that the IOC requires an Oly participant to be a citizen of the country they represent. Therefore, if Russia is not accepted, then neither should their athletes be accepted. It is an IOC rule after all.