11/7/2023-|Last update: 11/7/202309:32 PM (Mecca time)
The International Olympic Committee finds itself in an awkward position by not taking a decision against Israeli athletes because of the occupation massacres in Gaza, similar to what it took against Russian athletes because of the Russian war on Ukraine.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accused the committee of bowing to Western powers and said this was “another example of the International Olympic Committee’s bankruptcy and political bias.”
He added, “The (Olympic Committee) strongly supports everything that represents the interests of Western countries, especially America, and is trying to find formulas that are generally consistent with this trend. It is shameful and of course the International Olympic Committee has greatly lost its credibility.”
Lavrov’s statement came as a comment on a statement by the Olympic Committee in which it announced that it was taking action against athletes who were organizing “boycott and discrimination campaigns” against representatives of Israel.
In response to Lavrov’s statements on Friday, the International Olympic Committee considered that Moscow’s attempt to compare the suspension of the Russian Olympic Committee to the situation of Israeli athletes, after the occupation’s aggression on Gaza, was “misplaced”, because they are not responsible for the decisions of their governments, as it put it.
The International Olympic Committee’s statements came in response to a question regarding Israeli athletes participating in the Olympic Games in Paris next year, and the possibility of athletes from other countries refusing to compete against them due to the current conflict.
On October 12, the International Olympic Committee announced the suspension of the Russian Olympic Committee, and said that the decision “will take effect immediately after its recognition of the Olympic councils in the Lugansk, Donetsk, Kherson, and Zaporozhye regions.”
Mark Adams, spokesman for the International Olympic Committee, said: “This (Russian) situation is unique and cannot be compared to any other war or conflict in the world because the actions taken by the International Olympic Committee and the recommendations it made are a result of the Russian military invasion of Ukraine during the holding of the Olympic and Paralympic Games.” Winter in Beijing 2022.
“This constitutes a violation of the Olympic Charter because it violates the territorial integrity of the Ukrainian National Olympic Committee, which is recognized by the International Olympic Committee in accordance with the Olympic Charter,” Adams added, noting that “the suspension of the Russian Olympic Committee does not affect the participation of independent athletes.”
Last January, the committee set a path for athletes from Russia and Belarus to qualify for the Olympics through the Asian qualifiers and compete as neutral athletes next year in Paris.
Neutral athletes are not considered representatives of their countries, and their flags are not raised or their national anthems are played if they win in competitions.
European football showed great sympathy with Ukraine in its war against Russia (Getty)
Russia appeals to the Sports Court
The Court of Arbitration for Sport announced yesterday, Monday, that it had accepted an appeal filed by the Russian Olympic Committee against the International Olympic Committee’s decision to suspend its membership.
The court said in a statement, “In the appeal it submitted to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, the Russian Olympic Committee requests the annulment of the contested decision,” adding that it “has begun the procedures of the Court of Arbitration for Sport in accordance with the Sports Arbitration Law.”
The decision of the Court of Arbitration for Sport will be final and binding, with the exception of the parties’ right to appeal to the Swiss Federal Court within 30 days under limited conditions.
Last March, Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach said that the Olympics and the committee could not become an arbiter in global political disputes, defending the committee’s plans to allow athletes from Russia and Belarus to participate.
Speaking at a political forum, Bach said that the Olympics must be free from politics, otherwise it will lose its ability to unite people, and he set an example with the boycott campaigns witnessed in previous editions in the 1970s and 1980s.
Bach added in his speech, “If politics determines who can participate in a tournament, then sports and athletes become political tools, and then it is impossible for sports to transfer its ability to unite people.”
Pending the decision of the Court of Arbitration for Sport, it seems that Bach’s fears have come true and that sport has become a political tool that is affected and influenced by it. There is no clearer evidence of this than its defense of Israeli athletes, thereby confirming the policy of double standards, according to observers.
2023-11-07 18:30:24
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