Recommend does not mean return – Kommersant

The Russian side considers the process of returning domestic and Belarusian athletes to international competitions launched at the end of March by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), in fact, fictitious. This follows from the statements made in Minsk by the President of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) Stanislav Pozdnyakov. He called the recommendations of the IOC on the admission of Russians and Belarusians, subject to a number of strict conditions, “legally void”, warning that in response to them, the structure he leads will develop its own in May. The ROC has grounds for such a position, given how difficult the implementation of the new strategy of the head sports structure is, as well as the emerging trend for Russian athletes to change citizenship in order to be able to continue performing.

Stanislav Pozdnyakov made his statements at the National Forum of Athletes in Minsk. And they are actually the first official reaction of the Russian side to the implementation published at the end of March, new recommendations of the International Olympic Committee regarding Russia and Belarus. The IOC, which initiated an almost total sports isolation for their representatives last year after the start of a special military operation in Ukraine, called for its abolition. The parent sports structure appealed to its constituent federations with a request to ensure the return of Russians and Belarusians to international competitions subject to a number of conditions, the key of which is the rejection of “active” support for a special military operation and the actions of the Russian authorities, including the absence of ties with the armed forces of the Russian Federation and national security agencies.

Meanwhile, the reaction formulated by Mr. Pozdnyakov to the consequences caused by this decision turned out to be extremely harsh.

He recalled that a month ago, that is, immediately after the meeting of the IOC Executive Committee, which had heard criticism from the UN and the Council on Rights man, called “this situation” because of the “too difficult conditions” put forward a “farce”. Stanislav Pozdnyakov said that he still considers the definition to be optimal, since “the conditions have not been lifted until now, and we are now aware that discrimination based on nationality has been supplemented by discrimination based on the type of activity, departmental affiliation to socially significant and sports organizations, sports discrimination has been added.” Describing the clauses provoking such discrimination as “unfair and legally null and void”, Mr. Pozdnyakov said that the Russian authorities would seek their repeal. In addition, it turned out that at the end of May, at a meeting of its executive committee, the ROC intends to develop “its own recommendations to the all-Russian federations” in response to “the actions of the IOC.”

The president of the National Olympic Committee of Belarus, Viktor Lukashenko, was in full solidarity with Stanislav Pozdnyakov. Noting that the recommendations of the IOC “seem to be some kind of warming, movement in the right direction”, he stressed that in reality “a lot of work is going on” both on the admission and on “non-admission of our athletes”, but about the “Olympic Games and there is no talk of qualifying competitions yet.” “Naturally, there are certain points that we will not cross, there are certain principles that we will follow,” Mr. Lukashenko added, apparently referring to the impossibility of fulfilling some of the conditions of the IOC.

For such a position, Russian and Belarusian sports leaders, I must say, have reason. The fact is that the process of reintegration of their countries into the world sports community is going with great difficulty.

There are not so many organizations that have authorized the admission of Russians and Belarusians. Even before the meeting of the IOC Executive Committee, the International Boxing Association (IBA) and the International Fencing Federation (FIE), deprived of its recognition, did this, after it – the World Taekwondo Federation (World Taekwondo), the United World Wrestling (UWW) and the International Sports Shooting Federation (ISSF). Readiness to follow their example was announced by the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF), the International Triathlon Federation (World Triathlon), the International Union of Modern Pentathlon (UIPM) and the World Archery Federation (World Archery). At the same time, the IBA has already faced with the boycott of their world championships by a number of countries and the creation of an alternative federation by the “schismatics”, and the decision of the FIE is not implemented in practice. So, it became known that Russian fencers will not be able to compete at the Seoul Grand Prix, which is part of the structure of the Olympic selection, starting on Friday. President of the Russian Fencing Federation (FFR) Ilgar Mammadov explained to TASS their absence in South Korea as “bureaucratic delays on the part of the FIE”, which arose despite the promptness in the provision of all necessary documents by Russian partners.

At the same time, there are organizations that have ignored the recommendations of the IOC. The Russian isolation was extended not only by the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) and the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) responsible for team sports (in which the IOC recommended to follow the previous line), but also the International Equestrian Federation (FEI), as well as the International Badminton Federation (BWF).

Skepticism in the domestic sports community about the effectiveness of recommendations is evidenced by a trend that has practically formed and is unpleasant for Russia.

In recent weeks, many strong Russian athletes have either changed or initiated the process of changing sports citizenship for the sake of the opportunity to continue performing.

This list includes the well-known chess player Alexandra Kosteniuk, the silver medalist of the previous Olympics held in Tokyo in 2021 in rowing Anna Prakaten, the titled short track skater Sofia Prosvirnova, the leader of the athletics team in the stayer run Sardana Trofimova, and the promising swimmer Anastasia Kirpichnikova. And freestyle wrestler Dauren Kurugliev, who recently had the status of the first number of the Russian team in the category up to 86 kg, has already won the first medal under the Greek flag, having won the European Championship in Zagreb.

Alexey Dospekhov