Hangzhou to all – Kommersant Newspaper No. 15 (7460) of 01/27/2023

The first practical consequence of the softening of the position on Russian sports announced by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), which has been in almost complete international isolation since the start of the special military operation in Ukraine, was a proposal from the Olympic Council of Asia (OAC). He expressed his readiness to allow domestic athletes to compete under his auspices, including the large-scale Asian Games to be held in the fall in Hangzhou, China.

Olympic Council of Asia published statementdedicated to the most urgent problem of the world sports movement. In it, emphasizing the commitment to the “unifying” nature of sport and the principle that “all athletes, regardless of nationality and passport, should have the opportunity to participate in competitions,” the structure expressed its readiness to admit representatives of Russia and Belarus to tournaments under its auspices. This statement followed less than a day after the resonant publication of the International Olympic Committee. In it, the IOC, which immediately after the start of Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine, in fact, initiated the introduction of a regime of complete international isolation in relation to the Russian sports industry, for the first time spoke in favor of its sharp easing. The new recommendations insist on ensuring the admission to the competition of Russian and Belarusian athletes who refrain from “active support” of the special operation. The OAC in its document emphasized that it is still waiting for the IOC, together with the international federations, to finally decide on the “paths for the return” of athletes from Russia and Belarus, subject to “strict conditions”.

The next, which the Chinese Hangzhou will accept, were supposed to take place in 2022, but due to the coronavirus pandemic, they were postponed to September-October 2023. Their program includes 37 sports, including all 28 from the program of the next summer Olympics. It will take place in Paris in 2024, and the extension of the lockdown for Russia may mean the impossibility of many events to qualify for the Olympics. In its statement, the OAC clarified that the list of competitions where Russian and Belarusian athletes are expected includes the Hangzhou Games.

The Asian theme in the context of the search for optimal options for the development of Russian sports in the current conditions is not new. At the end of last year, it was raised by the Russian Football Union (RFU). He raised the question of the expediency of exiting the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) from clubs and national teams of Russia in order to move to the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) for discussion by the executive committee. However, in the end, apparently, the RFU abandoned the idea. In any case, instead of authorizing such a transition, he created a working group that has already begun to interact with UEFA in order to develop a road map for the return of Russian football players to its competitions. For the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC), the acceptance of the OAC invitation will also, presumably, be linked to the procedure for withdrawing from another regional structure – the Association of European Olympic Committees (EOC).

In any case, it is now difficult to say how the Russian side will perceive the Asian initiative. telling championat.com about the OAC proposal, Dmitry Svishchev, Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Physical Culture and Sports, called it “interesting”, but at the same time noted that, in his opinion, Russian sports federations “need to approach the issue carefully, study the essence of the proposal and understand what They give us opportunities – whether they give us the right to qualify for the World Championships, the Olympic Games. At the same time, “the opinion” of “the federations themselves, and the athletes, and the Ministry of Sports, and the Olympic Committee” is very important.

Meanwhile, the reaction of both the ROC and the Ministry of Sports of the Russian Federation to the publication of the IOC, which led to the appearance of the OAC statement, looked extremely restrained. Both the President of the Russian Olympic Committee, Stanislav Pozdnyakov, and the Minister of Sports, Oleg Matytsin, made it clear that they consider the conditions set for Russia unacceptable. Mr. Pozdnyakov announced his disagreement with “any restrictions” “that relate to the nationality of our athletes,” and Mr. Matytsin – about the inadmissibility “to determine for athletes special conditions for participation that do not comply with the Olympic Charter, the principles of equality and justice.”

On the other hand, it was quite easy to predict the reaction to the fresh initiatives of the Ukrainian side. President of the National Olympic Committee of Ukraine Vadym Gutzeit published a statement on his Facebook page (owned by Meta, which is recognized as extremist in the Russian Federation and banned) in which he informed that “work is currently underway on further possible steps and priority measures to extend sanctions and preventing Russians and Belarusians from participating in international competitions”, and that “if we are not heard”, he “does not exclude the possibility of a boycott of the Olympic Games”.

Alexey Dospekhov