The mayor of Paris demanded that Russians not be allowed to attend the Olympics

The mayor of Paris, socialist Anne Hidalgo, in whose city the Olympic Games will be held this summer, said in an interview with Reuters that she does not want to see Russian athletes on the streets of Paris. “I prefer that they not come,” the French politician expressed her (or only her?) position. Adding that one cannot pretend as if nothing is happening in Ukraine, and (in her opinion) the Russian president is threatening the whole of Europe. Therefore, Hidalgo wants our athletes not only to be banned from participating in the opening and closing ceremonies of the Games, which has not yet been finally decided, but also to be officially removed from all competitions. In one of her previous interviews, she generally called the participation of Russians in the Games “obscene.”

At the same time, the participation of Israeli athletes, according to her, should only be rejoiced, despite the ongoing conflict in the Gaza Strip. “Sanctions against Israel in relation to the Olympic and Paralympic Games are out of the question,” Hidalgo said, “because Israel is a democracy.” The IOC has not placed any restrictions on the participation of Israeli athletes. And the mayor of Paris confirmed to Reuters that on the eve of the Olympic Games a ceremony will be held in memory of the victims of the attack on Israeli athletes and members of the national team at the Olympic Games in Munich in 1972.

Anne Hidalgo has been talking a lot about the Paris Olympic Games lately. Because the organizers also have a lot of problems. And in all areas, wherever you point. Trade unions are threatening strikes during the Games, radical fighters for the purity of nature are planning various high-profile actions, and the water in the Seine is not getting clean. Although the mayor of Paris has already personally promised to swim in the river in mid-June, at the same time inviting another ardent fighter against Russia, French President Macron, to take his swimming trunks out of the closet and join her.

The issue of our athletes’ participation in the Olympics has not yet been fully resolved in our country. On March 13, Sports Minister Oleg Matytsyn said at a meeting between the Ministry of Sports and the New Media Resource Center that, in his opinion, “there is no need to turn away, we need to maintain a dialogue.” And those athletes (wrestlers, judokas, taekwondoists, tennis players) who have passed the selection should have the opportunity to once again show their skills on the international stage. “We’ll see what the final decision of the International Olympic Committee will be on March 18-19, when the executive committee will be, but for now the position is that there will be no new recommendations and regulations,” TASS quotes Matytsin.

Unlike the IOC, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) already announced its conditions last week – Russian and Belarusian Paralympians will definitely not participate in the opening and closing ceremonies of the Paralympic Games. Which traditionally takes place after the end of the Olympics. This time it will take place from August 28 to September 8.

Presidential spokesman Peskov criticized the criteria for admission to the Paralympic Games, but noted that “you still have to compete and win.”

In general, in recent years the IPC has taken a much tougher position towards our athletes than the IOC. On March 6, they published their admission criteria, according to which the participation of Russians and Belarusians in the Games is possible in a neutral status, they are prohibited from using national symbols and participating in the opening and closing ceremonies. And we will compete under a WHITE flag with black letters NPA (Neutral Paralympic Athletes). The Russian Paralympic Committee called such conditions discriminatory and unfair. At the same time, about 125 athletes can currently participate in the Paralympics.

BAN TECHNIQUE

Could Russian athletes not be allowed into the Games, even if they pass the qualifying tournaments and manage to obtain “neutral” status after numerous checks? They can. We have already seen how this is done more than once over the past two years, when our athletes experienced serious difficulties in obtaining visas to some European countries where international competitions were held. And even the presence of visas did not guarantee that they would get to stadiums and arenas in a timely manner – for example, the Russian wrestler Abdulrashid Sadulayev was denied entry to Romania for the European Championship in February 2024. The athlete was told that his Schengen visa was “in doubt.” It’s as if he drew it himself with felt-tip pens in his international passport, and did not receive it at the visa department of one of the European countries.

Russian gymnasts lost the opportunity to qualify for the Olympics after missing the World Cup stage in Baku in artistic gymnastics, which took place from March 7 to 10. Before this, we missed the World Cup stages in Cairo, which took place in February of this year.

It is also necessary to remember that the direct preparation and holding of the Olympics is not carried out by the IOC, but by the national organizing committees for the games of the countries where they are taking place. And the IOC recommendations are of course important for them, but there may be nuances.

And the admission criteria themselves are open to interpretation, forgive the tautology. Since our athletes will also be monitored by representatives of the NOC of Ukraine. And immediately report where necessary if any of the Russian Olympians at least like the wrong post on social networks during the Games – this is also an expression of a political position. And a reason for disqualification.

WHAT TO BE?

Indeed, each of the athletes decides for himself whether to go to Paris or not. And some have already made this choice.

“Personally, in my opinion, only the flag, only the anthem, the full composition, including all team sports, which, unfortunately, no longer passed the selection system and did not make it to the Olympics. These should have been our conditions initially, and now we are waiting for what they should tell us. This is wrong,” RIA Novosti quotes four-time Olympic champion in freestyle swimming Alexander Popov, who is a member of the Supreme Supervisory Council of the All-Russian Swimming Federation.

Two-time Olympic champion Evgeny Rylov said that he has already abandoned the 2024 Olympic Games, which will be held in Paris. Just like European champion Evgenia Chikunova. She said that she was not ready to go to Paris on the IOC’s terms.

And these are not isolated cases – many athletes express the same position. At the same time, there are those who share the opinion of the Minister of Sports. The fourth racket of the world, tennis player Danniil Medvedev is looking forward to the opportunity to take to the Olympic courts in Paris. And try to win your Olympic medal.

However, as MK has repeatedly written, our athletes will not be left without international tournaments and competitions. “I will perform either at the BRICS games or at the Friendship Games,” Match TV quotes Evgeny Rylov as saying. And the more successful these starts are, the more foreign athletes will be willing to come to Russia in the future. Where there are no Anne Hidalgos and “IOC Eligibility Commissions”.

THE BIRTH OF A NEW

It is not surprising that the IOC is so afraid of international tournaments held in Russia. The President of the Olympic Committee, Thomas Bach, has repeatedly accused our country of splitting and politicizing sports. Forgetting that it is his organization and he personally that is doing exactly this. Deciding who can participate in the Olympiads and who cannot, primarily on political and national grounds, and not on the results of the competition. The main principle of Olympism, “Sport outside of politics,” was buried by the IOC. Even before he started discriminating against our athletes. By creating the so-called “refugee team” for the Rio de Janeiro Olympics in 2016. The idea, of course, was good – to allow everyone worthy to participate in the games, but if there is such a team, then it is possible to make a team altogether “without clan, without tribe,” which is what they are now trying to do with Russian Olympians, forcing them to actually abandon their country and its history.

The IOC constantly declares that it is trying with all its might to support the “unifying spirit of sport.” But in fact, with his decisions, more than many others, he separates people, dividing them into first- and second-class categories. Like the same mayor of Paris, who allows herself to decide which country has democracy in her understanding, and who is not worthy to walk on the Parisian pavements and participate in the Olympics. And the more such statements and conditions, the further and further our roads will diverge.