Russian athletes will take part in the Asian Games without standings

“Green light” from the IOC

We dance from the stove: from the words that were once again spoken about Russia’s participation in the Asian Games. The Director General of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA), Hussein Al Musallam, put it this way: everyone has the right to play sports without discrimination, therefore, “if the IOC and international federations agree”, Russian and Belarusian athletes will be able to participate in the Asian Games in Hangzhou, provided there is no flag, anthem and “without prejudice to the quotas of Asian athletes at the Paris 2024 Olympics.”

The 2023 Asian Summer Games will be held from September 23 to October 8 in Hangzhou. And the OCA says it is opening doors to 500 neutral athletes from Russia and Belarus in 12 individual sports. “But only if the International Olympic Committee gives the green light for their participation as independent neutral athletes in Paris 2024,” Match-TV quotes the response of the OCA press service.

And the final decision will be made with the cooperation of the IOC, OCA, the organizing committee of the Asian Games and international and Asian sports federations. If everything goes well, then the eligible athletes will not have the right to medals, they will perform out of the standings, but they will receive the opportunity to qualify for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.

But – after the decision of the IOC on Russia’s participation in the Olympic Games. And it should be announced soon. And the logical chain is built like this: the IOC approved the invitation of our athletes from the OCA to their tournament, and above all – to qualify. This means that the IOC will also approve our participation in the Olympic Games. Yes, on the same terms that have been spoken about in recent months and which many, but not all, consider unacceptable.

Asia will help us?

These Asian Games in Hangzhou, China from September 23 to October 8 were for some time an invigorating beacon for us: Asia will help us! Athletes will perform there, and before, during or after the start in Hangzhou they will get to some competitions. So they will receive the qualifying points they desire and vital for the Olympic Games. And then it will be clear what to do with Paris-2024. Better to have glasses than not to have and shrug.

And in general, it’s good to argue: competitive practice is needed, after all, where would we be without it? How long can you sit inside the country? It’s great if there is competition, but if not? Look at the great Lasickene: come out and jump with yourself! You can’t live like that.

And we are like: go, go faster! To Asia, our friend, savior and almost patroness. Without medals, not like everyone else? So the Belarusians perform at our championships, without taking away the medals of our athletes. If a joint Cup is invented, everything is as it should be: the winner means the first one. And if not invented – its own reward system.

Without rights to go, it turns out, from the word “completely”? Anthem, flag, pedestal, offset – by? OK. This is not the Olympic Games yet, but a tournament in which our people have not yet competed, and it seems to have been offered to help us. In short, you need to look at yourself in competition. First of all.

All by yourself?

And all these thoughts are still there. Because they are fair. And of course, I would definitely like to use the opening Asian door (so far, in words). Competitive experience and constant practice of performances are not just words. Yes, and there is no offset, which means that everything can be considered a kind of control training, but with rivals from outside. And Asia is really a friend and even a savior, because, despite the difficulties, it provides its platforms and tournament arenas.

True, the past months and a lot of words and events, wound up on our participation or non-participation in international tournaments, make us recall the specific issues that will arise before Paris. And one of the points of this specificity will not be moral, which permeates all the recommendations of the IOC, no matter how you dodge or dodge their content, but strictly financial. Yes, household. Neutral status is only offered to individual athletes. That is, they personally send an application, resolve issues without the participation of the ROC and the national federation, prepare themselves without state financial support, etc. Themselves, all by themselves … Who will be ready for this?

The Ministry of Sports has already stated that it will do everything necessary to ensure the participation of our athletes in international competitions. “For us, they were, are and remain our athletes, members of national teams.” But will they accept such a position – the support of the state – the IOC, and hence the OCA?

500 for two countries

In fact, if there is anything new in the information announced at the OCA assembly, it is only a figure: no more than 500 athletes from the two countries will be admitted to the Asian Games. Is it a lot or a little? And how did they think? Here, for example, is a quote from the Minister of Sports Oleg Matytsin dated May 2: “If our athletes successfully pass the qualifying tournaments and the conditions are not significantly changed, then the maximum number of participants from the Russian side in the Olympic Games will be about 180 athletes.”

Well, let there be the same number of Belarusians. All the same, the figure of 500 athletes is far away. If we also take into account that many of the athletes who can fulfill the quotas will not be able to compete due to the IOC criteria. Not in Asia, not in Paris.

All other conditions for the participation of Russia and Belarus in the Asian Games are not new. And from the very beginning it was known that the status from the IOC, imposed on Russia, would be neutral in Asia as well. Moreover, there were no illusions with the performance of our athletes outside the standings either: when inviting to the Asian Games, Acting OCA President Randhir Singh said this: athletes from Russia and Belarus will not be able to enter the main standings of awards at the Games.

And in general: we are talking about quotas in those forms in which quantitative indicators can be set. They even gave an example: if a fighter from an Asian country is knocked out in the first round, the country misses the chance to qualify. So, we need a points system, like in athletics or shooting. In short, they said in Asia, quotas also need to be sorted out (the IOC is working on this) so that there is no encroachment on Asian quotas.

Well, traditional for today, vague and about nothing, even from the first statement: “The OCA remains in standby mode, as the IOC continues to study with international federations ways to return Russian and Belarusian athletes to competitions under strict conditions.”

The IOC sorted out the quota system so that there was no encroachment on the Asian ones, or not, on Sunday it was still unclear. But, apparently, somehow figured it out. It doesn’t really change the point of the question. On March 28, the IOC announced recommendations for the admission of our athletes to international competitions. Individual clearance, neutral status, ban from participation in team sports, ban on the participation of athletes associated with law enforcement agencies or expressing support for the SVO. And athletes do not have the right to represent either the national federation or the national Olympic Committee.

And Asia, represented by the OCA, honors the IOC and refers to it in its decisions. Starting from the neutral status, which from the frequent mention of it has become something already familiar to Russia, but outside of Russia. There is already no other way for us and they don’t see it, it’s not a question, as they say, for discussions.

Compromise or hand over our own?

The words that inspired us with hope were spoken by Asia last December, when at the Olympic summit the proposal of the Olympic Council of Asia was made to allow athletes from Russia and Belarus to participate in Asian competitions. And provide an opportunity to qualify for the 2024 Games in Paris. The summit supported the idea. A month later, the OCA officially invited us to perform at the Asian Games in the fall. It took six months to say nothing further. And in the end – to repeat what has already been formulated.

And now we are reacting something like this: we are glad that Russian and Belarusian athletes were admitted to the Asian Games, but the current recommendations of the IOC, which the OCA also adheres to, do not allow Russians to compete on an equal footing, without discrimination. And this cannot be accepted. Or so: it will be interesting to perform at the Asian Games, but let them officially show the entire list of requirements for admission.

Another option: the strongest athletes are already not allowed to compete by some federations, because they represent CSKA, Dynamo or the National Guard. And what? To pretend that they never existed in our sport, to run only young people, so that at least some “goal on the horizon” appears? And not in all sports is it so easy to do: he successfully performed in one competition – and immediately went to the Olympics. But there is also such a view: the proposed conditions are a compromise, we must agree for the sake of the Olympic Games in Paris.

… We are going – we are not going? Will he send to hell (the IOC, and now also the OCA) or press him to the heart? This is how our sport lives on the eve of – and this is already the case – the Olympic Games in Paris. And the path to Paris now lies through Asia. The OCA will officially announce something after the decision of the IOC on Russia’s participation in the Olympic Games. And it should be announced soon. And the logical chain is built like this: after all, the IOC long ago approved the invitation of our athletes from the OCA to its tournament, and above all, to qualify. This means that the IOC will also approve our participation in the Olympic Games. Yes, on the same terms that have been spoken about in recent months and which many, but not all, consider unacceptable.