The Minister of State for Sport and Physical Education, Thomas Byrne TD, has joined 33 other Sport Ministers from across Europe, North America, Asia and Oceania, in signing a statement calling for the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to reconsider its intention to develop a pathway for the renewed participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes in international sports competitions.
This follows on from the International Summit of Sports Ministers on Ukraine that Minister Byrne attended last Friday, 10 February.
“The deteriorating situation of Russia’s illegal war in Ukraine makes it unreasonable to seriously contemplate the return to international sports competitions of athletes from Russia and Belarus,” said Minister Byrne.
“Along with the other 33 countries that have signed up to this important and clear declaration, I sincerely wish that circumstances were different because sport should be for athletes from every nation competing fairly against each other. But we are not in normal times. We are not in a place that justifies the IOC planning for the return of both Russia and Belarus to international sport.”
“Pending an improved situation in Ukraine, I urge the sports movement to stay the course and continue to exclude those that are not respecting such important instruments in the international sporting landscape as the Olympic Truce”.
Russia and Belarus have been suspended from international competition since the IOC recommended, on 28 February 2022, that Russian and Belarussian athletes not be permitted to compete. This is the third statement to issue, and follows on from previous Ministerial statements issued on 8 March 2022 and 4 July 2022.
The 34 countries that have signed the statement are: Austria, Belgium, Canada, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Rep, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom and the USA.
STATEMENT ON RUSSIA’S WAR ON UKRAINE AND INTERNATIONAL SPORT
Ministerial and senior representatives from our collective group of nations met on Friday 10 February. We were honoured to be joined by President Zelenskyy, who outlined the ongoing devastation being inflicted on Ukraine, including its sports infrastructure and athletes, due to Russia’s unprovoked and unjustifiable war of choice, facilitated by the Belarusian government.
We reaffirmed our nations’ two previous collective statements of 8 March 2022 and 4 July 2022, and discussed the statement of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) of 25 January 2023.We welcomed the IOC’s reaffirmation and reinforcement of their existing sanctions in place, and their statement committing to solidarity and support for Ukrainian athletes and the Ukrainian Olympic Committee. While recognising the autonomy of sports bodies, given the invasion of Ukraine and its devastation is ongoing, we agreed that the IOC’s proposal on exploring a pathway back to competition for individual Russian and Belarusian athletes raises many questions and concerns.In its statement of 28 February 2022, the IOC recommended that Russian and Belarusian athletes not compete, in part because “many athletes from Ukraine are prevented from doing so [participating in sport events] because of the attackon their country.”
Wherever such an exclusion was not possible on short notice for organisational or legal reasons, the IOC recommended that Russian or Belarusian nationals should be accepted only as neutral athletes and that no national symbols, colours,flags or anthems should be displayed. We noted that the situation on the ground in Ukraine has only worsened since this statement. We firmly believe that, given there has been no change in the situation regarding the Russian aggression in Ukraine, and as an imperative for fairness and solidarity towards the Ukrainian athletes whose facilities have been destroyed and who have had to leave their country (or stay to fight for the defence of Ukraine in which very many have lost their lives), there is no practical reason to move away from the exclusion regime for Russian and Belarusian athletes set by the IOC in their statement of 28 February 2022.
We also noted that through their choices, action and ongoing invasion Russia broke the Olympic Truce that has been continuously supported by the United Nations General Assembly since 1993. In our collective statement of 4 July 2022, in view of the non-discrimination principle, we recognised that Russian and Belarusian nationals could be allowed to compete as ‘neutral’ individuals, subject to conditions to ensure they are clearly not representing their states.
However, in Russia and Belarus sport and politics are closely intertwined. We have strong concerns on how feasible it is for Russian and Belarusian Olympic athletes to compete as ‘neutrals’ -under the IOC’s conditions of no identification with their country -when they are directly funded and supported by their states (unlike, for example, professional tennis players).
The strong links and affiliations between Russian athletes and the Russian military are also of clear concern. Our collective approach throughout has therefore never been one of discrimination simply on the basis of nationality, but these strong concerns need to be dealt with by the IOC.As long as these fundamental issues and the substantial lack of clarity and concrete detail on a workable ‘neutrality’ model are not addressed, we do not agree that Russian and Belarusian athletes should be allowed back into competition.
Noting the IOC’s stated position that no final decisions have been made, we strongly urge the
IOC to address the questions identified by all countries and reconsider its proposal accordingly. We also note that Russia and Belarus have it in their own hands to pave the way for their athletes’ full return to the international sports community, namely by ending the war they started.
