IOC Cites ‘Human Rights’ as Reason for No Ban on Russian, Belarusian Athletes Competing in Asian Games

Olympic Rings in front of The Olympic House, headquarters of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) at the opening of the executive IOC board meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland, on Sept. 8, 2022. Laurent Gillieron/Reuters

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) on Feb. 2 provided further details regarding its decision to consider allowing athletes from Russia and Belarus who have not actively supported the war in Ukraine to take part in international sports competitions in Asia.

The IOC said earlier in January that it “welcomed and appreciated” an offer by the Olympic Council of Asia for Russian and Belarusian athletes to have the chance to compete in Asia.

However, the announcement sparked a backlash among officials in Ukraine, including President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

In an updated Q&A published on its official website, IOC referenced the opinions of two Special Rapporteurs of the United Nations Human Rights Council; the Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights and the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia, and related intolerance.

Those opinions supported the view that Russians and Belarusians should not face discrimination on the basis of their nationality and that the IOC has an obligation to abide by the Olympic Charter as well as international human rights norms prohibiting discrimination.

“We understand the desire to support Ukrainian athletes and the Ukrainian Olympic community, who suffer terribly from the war, together with all other Ukrainians,” the experts noted in their opinions.

Zelenskyy Says Russian, Belarusian Athletes Should Be Banned

The committee then went on to address criticism from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy who has since called on the IOC not to allow Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete in any games, including the 2024 Summer Games in Paris.

“Olympic principles and war fundamentally oppose each other,” Zelenskyy said on Telegram on Jan. 28.

“Russia must stop its aggression and terror, and only after that it will be possible to talk about Russian participation in the context of the Olympic movement,” the president added.

In a separate statement on Twitter on Jan. 30, Ukrainian presidential aide Mykhailo Podolyak accused the IOC of being a “promoter of war.”

“[The] IOC is a promoter of war, murder, and destruction. The IOC watches with pleasure Russia destroying Ukraine and then offers Russia a platform to promote genocide and encourages their further killings,” Podolyak wrote.

The Ukrainian National Olympic Committee has also threatened to boycott the 2024 Summer Olympics and is set to hold a meeting on the matter on Feb. 3, according to Ukrinform.

IOC in its Q&A said it is “extremely regretful to escalate this discussion with a threat of a boycott at this premature stage.” It also noted that the “participation of individual, neutral athletes with a Russian or Belarusian passport at the Olympic Games Paris 2024 has not been discussed yet.”

White House Weighs In

Finally, it rejected what it called “defamatory statements” made by some Ukrainian officials.

“Threatening a boycott of the Olympic Games, which the NOC of Ukraine is currently considering, goes against the fundamentals of the Olympic Movement and the principles it stands for. A boycott is a violation of the Olympic Charter, which obliges all NOCs to ‘participate in the Games of the Olympiad by sending athletes’ the IOC noted.

“As history has shown, previous boycotts did not achieve their political ends and served only to punish the athletes of the boycotting NOCs.”

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre also addressed the issue at a press briefing on Thursday when asked if the Biden administration believes that Russian and Belarusian athletes should be able to compete in the Olympic Games in Paris in 2024.

Jean-Pierre said that the United States has “rallied the world to support the people of Ukraine” and “worked to hold Russia accountable for the brutal and barbaric war their forces are waging against Ukraine.”

“In cases where sports organizations and event organizers, such as the International Olympic Committee, choose to permit athletes from Russia and Belarus to participate in sporting events, it should be absolutely clear that they are not representing the Russian or Belarusian states,” she said.

In 2024, approximately 32 sports are on the program for the Olympics and around 10,500 athletes are set to participate in hundreds of continental and international competitions.