Thomas Bach warned of the end of world sport as it is known today
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The President of the IOC recalled the equality of athletes
Criticism by some European governments of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) plan to bring Russian and Belarusian athletes back into international sport is regrettable and undermines the autonomy of sport, IOC President Thomas Bach said at a press conference on March 30, 2023.
Earlier, the IOC issued a set of recommendations to international sports federations that will allow Russian and Belarusian athletes to gradually return to competition. Including qualifying tournaments for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
Specifically, the IOC’s new plan sees the sports federations give Russians and Belarusians access to Asian competitions and Olympic qualifiers instead of having to compete in Europe, which is currently not possible. MK wrote in detail about these recommendations. As for the Olympics itself, the IOC will make a separate decision on this matter later.
After the decision of the IOC Executive Committee on Russian and Belarusian athletes was published, the governments of Ukraine, Poland, Great Britain and the Czech Republic, as well as some other countries, expressed their disagreement regarding the resumption of competitions with the participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes, even in a neutral status. The National Olympic Committee of Germany also opposed the return of Russia to the sport.
In turn, the Committee of Athletes of the Olympic Council of Asia on March 30 fully supported the recommendations of the IOC, demanding only fairness for Asian athletes in any qualifying tournament.
“It is unfortunate to see that some governments do not want to respect either the majority in the Olympic movement, or all stakeholders, or the autonomy of sport. It is unfortunate that these governments do not address the issue of double standards. We have not seen a single comment about their attitude towards the participation of athletes from other 70 countries around the world where there are armed conflicts. Government intervention (criticism) strengthened the unity of the Olympic Movement. Governments cannot decide which athletes can compete in which competitions. This will be the end of world sport as we know it today,” Bach said. Adding that now every sports federation has to take the following steps and it would be better for governments not to interfere with how sports are governed.
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