“Sports officials should also remember about the punishment for boycotting” – Kommersant FM

Russian athletes are ready to be accepted at the Games in Paris. This statement was made by the head of the Olympic organizing committee, Tony Estangue. The official added that athletes will be welcome in the French capital only if all entry requirements are met, that is, without anthems, flags and team competitions. Will the Russians eventually go to the Olympics in Paris? Kommersant FM sports commentator Vladimir Osipov looked into it.

There have long been conversations and discussions about whether to go to the Games in Paris. Some people believe that under the conditions formulated by the International Olympic Committee, there is nothing to do at the Olympics. And some, on the contrary, are sure that they must go in any case, especially since the conditions do not mention condemnation of the SVO.

There is only a point where the athlete must not publicly support the military operation. The debate was quite tough, so it is not surprising that during the “Direct Line” with the president, this question was asked to Vladimir Putin. But we did not hear a clear answer.

It is unclear how sports officials will weigh their decision. But if we bring together all the facts that we have at the moment, we can assume that the leaders of our sport do not need to do anything – the IOC will decide everything for them.

For example, now only six people from our country are allowed to participate in the Games in Paris. For comparison, 335 athletes took part in the last summer Olympics in Tokyo. But even six Olympic licenses have already caused a negative reaction from some countries. Latvia even stated that they would boycott the Games with the participation of any number of Russians.

And if this happens, it will be interesting to see how those who decided to protest will be punished. Indeed, in such cases, the decision is made on an individual basis, sports lawyer Artem Patsev told Kommersant FM: “The Olympic Charter really stipulates that if a team refuses to participate in the Games, then this constitutes a violation of the Olympic Charter and may lead to constitute some kind of disciplinary measures or sanctions.

But the charter does not set any time frames. All this is determined solely on the basis of the circumstances and reasons for such a refusal to participate in competitions to be declared.”

When sports officials in our country weigh the decision to go or not to go to the Games, they should also remember the punishment for boycotting. Therefore, it is better to avoid loud statements in any case. And not so long ago, the Minister of Sports Oleg Matytsin announced to the whole country that 180 athletes would go to the Games and now looks like a person who, let’s say, did not quite understand the situation.

So now the wisdom of life – if you don’t know what to do, don’t do anything – looks like the optimal solution. Of course, the ones who will suffer the most, as always, are the athletes who will not have the opportunity to make history by becoming Olympic champions, but they will not be left without work.

It has already been officially announced that the winners and prize-winners of the Friendship Games in 2024 will be paid the same bonuses as at the Olympics. Moreover, the total amount of payments to athletes compared to the Tokyo Games will increase more than five times. This is approximately 2.5 billion rubles. prize money for 300 medal sets. So the absence of Russia at the Olympics, and to be frank, we can already talk about this as a fait accompli, will definitely not hurt the pockets of Russian athletes.

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