Olympic Games as ‘stage for war propaganda’? This is how Moscow fights for the start of its athletes. Kosovo shows drone images of training by Serbian paramilitaries

There is no other way to put it: sport is part of Russian warfare. Western stakeholders report an incredibly persistent, systematic and efficient underground strategy by the Kremlin at all levels. The aim is to prevent Russian and Belarusian athletes from being excluded from the Summer Olympics in Paris in July 2024.

‘Attempts at pressure, secret negotiations and political manipulation of the sport’ are used. This was said by the head of the French Paralympic Committee, Marie-Amélie Le Fur, last week in Manama (Bahrain). On the same day, the Paralympic International Committee (IPC) decided by 74 votes to 65 to admit Russia and Belarus to the 2024 Games. By 90 votes to 56, a subsequent vote also decided that Russians and Belarusians would not having to compete as a team and without a national flag or anthem.

Marie-Amélie Le Fur, representing the host country, expressed her “dismay” and “anger” at the IPC’s decision: “The committee acted against the recommendation of the athletes who had spoken in favor of a suspension of Russia and Belarus .”

President with close ties to Russia

The surprising decision of the IPC sets the course for the central decision of the International Olympic Committee (IOK), led by the German Thomas Bach. Officially, the IPC and the IOK make decisions independently of each other. However, Bach can use the Paralympic Commission’s decision as a decisive argument for his pro-Russian stance, if not as a precedent.

Because the German makes no secret of the fact that he supports Russian participation, in whatever form. Over the weekend, Parisian newspaper Le Monde detailed how the IOK head applied one sporting discipline after another to his Kremlin-friendly course.

In some cases this is not even necessary – such as with the international fencing association, which is traditionally under Russian influence. When Ukraine’s Olga Charlan defeated Russia’s Anna Smirnova at the World Fencing Championships in Milan in March, she refused to shake her hand, saying: “Your country is bombing and killing our compatriots.” The Ukrainian was disqualified for violating the regulations. Smirnova, on the other hand, remained on the board for 45 minutes, clearly marking her country’s presence.

The Ukrainian delegation stated in a communiqué: “For a year now, Russia has been destroying Ukrainian cities, killing Ukrainian civilians, destroying sports halls, including those for fencing, killing coaches and athletes – but the World Fencing Federation allows the Russians to participate in sports competitions! This is shocking and unacceptable. The money of Alicher Usmanov (a Russian oligarch who headed the World Fencing Federation for fourteen years until 2022) is apparently more important than Olympic principles.”

Russia has no place in France

Other world associations, such as those for athletics, are against Russian participation. The private athletes’ association ‘Global Athlete’ responded on Friday to Russia’s admission to the Paralympic Games, saying: ‘The IPC has shown its true colors by bowing to Russian influence. It offers Russia a world stage for its war propaganda.”

French President Emmanuel Macron had also previously expressed himself clearly in an interview with the French sports newspaper “L’Equipe”: Russia, he claimed, had “no place” at the Olympic Games because it commits war crimes and deports children. That’s why he doesn’t want to see a Russian flag at the games.

However, the French Olympic host admitted that the IOC made the decision alone. As usual, the committee is not very transparent about when it will fall. How it will end, however, is beyond doubt. The war of aggression against Ukraine will likely be waged in the elegant sports stadiums of Paris. All that remains to be seen is whether Ukraine will carry out its boycott threat and whether other countries will follow suit. (bzbasel.ch)