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The Olympic Summit, chaired by International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach, has agreed unanimously to follow up an initiative proposed by the Olympic Council of Asia to enable Russian and Belarus athletes to take part in its competitions.
Members at the 11th Summit in Lausanne agreed that the IOC should “lead the further exploration of the OCA initiative concerning the participation of athletes who are in full respect of the Olympic Charter and the sanctions.”
“This initiative to be discussed in the next round of IOC consultation calls with the IOC Members, the athletes’ representatives, the International Federations and the National Olympic Committees,” an IOC release said.
It is understood the OCA is considering the addition of Russian and Belarusian athletes to some of its Paris 2024 qualifying events.
The Summit, involving the leading representatives of the Olympic Movement, re-stated the IOC’s policy announced four days after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24, confirming that “the sanctions against the Russian and Belarusian states and governments remain firmly in place”.
But there was no reference in this to the athletes, who were part of the original exclusion recommended by the IOC on February 28.
More recently, the IOC has sought to clarify that this recommendation was a “protective measure” for the athletes.
However, during the course of what was described by an IOC release as an “intense” debate, the Acting President of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) Randhir Singh stated that, on the Asian continent, the reasons for the protective measures no longer exist.
The OCA offered to facilitate the participation of athletes from Russia and Belarus in competitions in Asia under its authority, while respecting the sanctions in place.
Representatives from the International Federations welcomed this initiative, stating that, for some IFs and for hosts of their competitions, the same reasoning would apply, and that therefore there should not be a one-size-fits-all solution, but that each IF should carefully evaluate for its sport whether the reasons for the protective measures still exist.
Robin Mitchell, the President of the Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC) welcomed the OCA initiative as a major step to re-establish the unity of all 206 National Olympic Committees.
The chair of the IOC Athletes’ Commission (AC) said the body welcomed the exploration of the initiative as a way to live up to the Olympic mission to unite athletes from all around the world in peaceful competition, while noting that there were different views among the athlete community.
The other representatives present, including the European Olympic Committees (EOC) President and the President of the Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa, supported the views expressed.
The President of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), Witold Bańka, informed the Summit that 31,112 tests had been conducted in and out-of-competition on Russian athletes from January 1 2021 to date.
These tests have been coordinated by different entities under their respective authority, and all samples have been and continue to be analysed in WADA-accredited laboratories outside Russia.
“The IOC President thanked all the participants for the open, frank and constructive debate,” the release added.
“In particular, he thanked the OCA for its creative initiative.”
World Athletics President Sebastian Coe was one of the main stakeholders who was not present.
Last week Coe, a member of the IOC, signalled that his sport would not be willing to lift sanctions until Moscow ended the conflict.
“This is fairly simple,” the double Olympic gold medallist said following a World Athletics Council meeting in Rome.
“Get out of Ukraine.”
The discussion on the Russian situation had begun with the “vast majority of the participants” agreeing that “the sanctions against the Russian and Belarusian states and governments, as those responsible for this blatant breach of the Olympic Truce and the Olympic Charter, must remain firmly in place.”
These sanctions included: “No international sports events being organised or supported by an International Federation (IF) or National Olympic Committee (NOC) in Russia or Belarus.
“No flag, anthem, colours or any other identifications of these countries being displayed at any sports event or meeting.”
The release added: “The Olympic Movement had to take the protective measures of not inviting athletes from these NOCs because, on the one hand, some governments were deciding and still decide which athletes can participate in international competitions, and which athletes cannot.
“The Summit strongly rejected these measures by governments as unacceptable interference in the autonomy of sports organisations and their political neutrality.
“The Summit emphasised that participation in sports competitions must be based exclusively on the sporting merits of an athlete and respect for the rules of sport.
“Another reason for the protective measures was that, in some countries, the safety and security of athletes from Russia and Belarus could not be guaranteed anymore.
“These protective measures put the Olympic Movement in a grave dilemma.
“All athletes had to be protected from political interference.
“The integrity of sports competitions had to be ensured.
“This led the IOC to act against its mission to unify the entire world in peaceful competition, since it had to prohibit athletes from participation because of their passport only.
“The participants of the Summit discussed in detail whether the reasons for these protective measures still exist and explored different ways as to how to overcome this extremely grave dilemma.”
Among the factors which “informed” this debate was “the participation of many athletes from Russia and Belarus in national leagues abroad, and in different international sports competitions, including in cycling and tennis.”
Also cited was “the encouragement and expectation expressed by so many leaders and people from Asia, Africa, the Americas, Oceania and parts of Europe who consider sport to be a unifying force of major importance in these divisive and highly confrontational times.”
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Mike Rowbottom, one of Britain’s most talented sportswriters, covered the London 2012 and Rio 2016 Olympics and Paralympics as chief feature writer for insidethegames, having covered the previous five summer Games, and four winter Games, for The Independent. He has worked for the Daily Mail, The Times, The Observer, The Sunday Correspondent and The Guardian.
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For nearly 15 years now, insidethegames.biz has been at the forefront of reporting fearlessly on what happens in the Olympic Movement. As the first website not to be placed behind a paywall, we have made news about the International Olympic Committee, the Olympic and Paralympic Games, the Commonwealth Games and other major events more accessible than ever to everybody.
insidethegames.biz has established a global reputation for the excellence of its reporting and breadth of its coverage. For many of our readers from more than 200 countries and territories around the world the website is a vital part of their daily lives. The ping of our free daily email alert, sent every morning at 6.30am UK time 365 days a year, landing in their inbox, is as a familiar part of their day as their first cup of coffee.
Even during the worst times of the COVID-19 pandemic, insidethegames.biz maintained its high standard of reporting on all the news from around the globe on a daily basis. We were the first publication in the world to signal the threat that the Olympic Movement faced from the coronavirus and have provided unparalleled coverage of the pandemic since.
As the world begins to emerge from the COVID crisis, insidethegames.biz would like to invite you to help us on our journey by funding our independent journalism. Your vital support would mean we can continue to report so comprehensively on the Olympic Movement and the events that shape it. It would mean we can keep our website open for everyone. Last year, nearly 25 million people read insidethegames.biz, making us by far the biggest source of independent news on what is happening in world sport.
Every contribution, however big or small, will help maintain and improve our worldwide coverage in the year ahead. Our small and dedicated team were extremely busy last year covering the re-arranged Olympic and Paralympic Games in Tokyo, an unprecedented logistical challenge that stretched our tight resources to the limit.
The remainder of 2022 is not going to be any less busy, or less challenging. We had the Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games in Beijing, where we sent a team of four reporters, and coming up are the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, the Summer World University and Asian Games in China, the World Games in Alabama and multiple World Championships. Plus, of course, there is the FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
Unlike many others, insidethegames.biz is available for everyone to read, regardless of what they can afford to pay. We do this because we believe that sport belongs to everybody, and everybody should be able to read information regardless of their financial situation. While others try to benefit financially from information, we are committed to sharing it with as many people as possible. The greater the number of people that can keep up to date with global events, and understand their impact, the more sport will be forced to be transparent.
Support insidethegames.biz for as little as £10 – it only takes a minute. If you can, please consider supporting us with a regular amount each month. Thank you.
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