Times are changing in the Olympic movement. But the pendulum rather marks a backward movement. In February 2018, a unified team from the two Koreas marched in good order, behind a flag of reconciliation, at the opening ceremony of the PyeongChang Winter Games. Peace through sport. The magic of the Games. Historical.
Next February, South Korea will march alone in the delegation parade at the opening of the Beijing 2022 Winter Games. North Korea will follow the scene remotely. The IOC announced on Wednesday September 8 through its president, Thomas Bach, that it had suspended the North Korean national Olympic committee until the end of 2022.
The decision was taken by the executive commission of the body, meeting during the day by videoconference. North Korea will not see the Beijing Games, four years after creating the event at PyeongChang 2018, for having made common cause with its neighbor and livening up the stands with its battalion of cheerleaders (photo above).
In question, North Korea's refusal to participate in the Tokyo Games. The Pyongyang regime announced it in April, three months before the deadline, in a laconic message on the website of one of its ministries. He then delayed officially informing the IOC. But North Korea was the only country absent from the Tokyo Games.
North Korea justified its decision by the health crisis. North Korean officials had explained that the conditions of stay in Japan were not safe enough to guarantee the safety of their athletes.
The explanation had not convinced anyone, especially not the IOC. By boycotting the Tokyo Games, North Korea violated the Olympic Charter. Specifically, she broke rule 27.3, which states: each national Olympic committee is required to participate in the Games of the Olympiad by sending its athletes"
Thomas Bach explained it on Wednesday September 8: the IOC had brought to North Korea “ all the assurances regarding the holding of safe Games“. The body had formulated “ constructive proposals to find an appropriate and tailor-made solution until the very last minute (including the supply of vaccines), proposals which were systematically rejected by the NOC of North Korea. »
The sanction pronounced Wednesday September 8 by the IOC Executive Board is not limited to a ban on participating in the Beijing Winter Games. Right in its boots, the Olympic body has also chosen to cut the floodgates. The North Korean Olympic Committee will no longer receive a penny from the IOC until the end of 2022. Fifteen months on a dry diet, accompanied by a suspension of all aid and support programs, including Olympic Solidarity .
There remains the question of the athletes, the first victims of the decisions of their leaders, but never consulted on the procedure to follow. Faithful to its rule of conduct, the IOC does not want to sacrifice them on the altar of politics. Thomas Bach clarified: the situation of North Korean athletes qualified for the Beijing Winter Games, or in a position to be, will be examined “ case by case " In the coming months.
Clearly, the Olympic body reserves the possibility of inviting certain people by offering them a status of neutrality. But it is hard to imagine the Pyongyang regime letting them pack their bags and fly to the Chinese capital to compete in the Winter Games.
