Baltics, Poland, Ukraine speak out against aggressor state sporting privileges / Article

The statement released by the Latvian Ministry of Foreign Affairs is reproduced below.

As we approach the next session of the Executive Board of the International Olympic Committee on March 28-30, 2023, we would like to reiterate Ukraine’s position on the recent IOC calls to explore ways for Russian and Belarusian athletes to participate in competitions, since “neutral athletes”.

We noted the concerns expressed by the UN Special Rapporteurs on the issue of non-discrimination on the basis of athletes’ nationality alone.

We regret that the IOC used these concerns as an excuse to radically reverse its earlier, well-reasoned stance on recommending that Russian and Belarusian athletes and officials not be invited to or allowed to participate in international competitions.

We would like to emphasize that it is not the nationality of the athletes that determines their role, but the fact that they are sponsored/supported by their governments or companies that support the Kremlin regime that continues its war of aggression against Ukraine, or that they are even affiliated directly with the Russian military.

We consider it necessary to remind that every day the Russian military attacks Ukraine’s civilian infrastructure, including sports facilities, and kills Ukrainians, including Ukrainian athletes. Millions of Ukrainian citizens, including athletes and their families, have been forced to flee their homes in the face of the Russian occupation. Many athletes from Ukraine are still prevented from participating in sporting events because Russia has attacked their country.

There is not a single reason to deviate from the regime of exclusion for Russian and Belarusian athletes, which the IOC laid down more than a year ago, immediately after the start of Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine. We firmly believe that now is not the right time to consider opening a path for Russian and Belarusian athletes to return to the Olympics in any status.

Although the IOC has not yet made any final decisions, we urge it to reconsider its plans and return to the original position, tried and tested and supported by the international community.

We remind that Russia and Belarus have a way available for their athletes to return to the international sports community, namely ending the aggressive war started by Russia with the complicity of Belarus and restoring respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine within of internationally recognized borders borders.

The original declaration of Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland and Ukraine remains open for co-signing by other countries.

Despite the IOC’s recent arguments that participation by Russian athletes should not suffer from their government’s warmongering policies, such a sports ban is by no means unprecedented. For example, South Africa was expelled from the IOC in 1970 because of the racist policies of the ‘apartheid’ era. The IOC passed a declaration against apartheid in sport on June 21, 1988 and supported the total isolation of apartheid sport. After the end of apartheid, South Africa was finally reinstated in time for the 1992 Olympics.

It seems reasonable to make ban from all international sporting competitions one of the expected consequences for countries pursuing racist or genocidal policies – particularly against the citizens of another member of the Olympic family – rather than arguing that Russian and Belarusian athletes under a temporary flag of convenience are anything but Russian and Belarusian athletes representing the states involved in the killing or assisting in the killing of Ukrainians.

Tell us about a bug