Thomas Bach is in Sochi. The German leader will preside over the 126th IOC session from today. A form of “hors d’oeuvre”, before opening his first Games at the head of the Olympic institution on Friday evening. Shortly after his arrival in the Russian city, he responded to questions from Stéphanie Pertuiset and Stuart Williams of AFP. Interview.
For these Games, the Russian authorities found themselves in the spotlight with accusations of corruption, ecological disaster, discrimination against homosexuals, and poor conditions for immigrant workers. Seven years after the Games were awarded, do you think Russia still deserves them?
Thomas Bach: Yes, because these kinds of discussions show the relevance of the Olympic Games and how much the world is interested in the Games, which bring attention to countries. And we appreciate these kinds of discussions because it also gives us the opportunity to clarify what the IOC is doing, what the possibilities are and where our limits are. With this in mind, our responsibility is to ensure that the Olympic Charter is applied during the Olympic Games for all participants. And in this regard, we have all the assurances of the President of the Russian Federation and his government.
You insist on the principles of the Olympic charter. But what do you say to human rights organizations who claim that Russia has already violated it?
That above all it is about the Olympic Games. The IOC is not a world government which can impose measures on a sovereign state and which can override laws passed by a sovereign Parliament. Our responsibility, which we take very seriously, is to ensure the full application of the Olympic charter during the Games. If something arises on this level, we seek clarification from the organizers or find a solution.
Aren't you tired of being questioned as if you were the spokesperson for the Russian authorities, of having to defend their record?
No, because it gives us the opportunity to explain what our own responsibility is. And sometimes there are misunderstandings. People think that we can solve all the problems that have not been solved, neither by politicians nor by NGOs, and which cannot be solved by others. Our mandate is to enforce the application of the Olympic charter and thereby send the message: how people can live peacefully together without any form of discrimination. This is our mission, and I will never get tired of explaining it, but I just hope that one day some people will understand it a little better.
In a documentary broadcast on Russian state television on Sunday, Vladimir Putin said that several IOC members told him in 2007: “We support today’s Russia and we want to support it. We need such a country.” Was granting these Games really a way to support this “new” country?
I cannot know the motivations of each member of the IOC. But we have these Winter Games here in Sochi and we can see that Russia and the Russians have delivered what they promised: to have a new sports center for Russia. The idea of the Games in Sochi is not so new. I headed the IOC evaluation commission when Sochi was a candidate for the 2002 Olympics. At that time, we did not see the conditions to do what has been achieved now, about twenty years later.
Several famous opponents of the Russian government, such as Pussy Riots and Mikhail Khodorkovsky, have been released in recent weeks. Do you think Russia will emerge from its Games different?
Once again, our mission is to send the message of a free society, without any form of discrimination, to the world. And I hope the world understands this and people think about what this example would mean for their society. This is the whole message we carry.
