Confused. And even, come on, totally cacophonous. Since the " recommendation " of the IOC to ban Russian and Belarusian athletes and officials from international competitions, a certain disorder has set in in the sports movement. The chaos is not far away.
The IOC is no stranger to this. Certainly, the Olympic body was quick to open the sanctions box after the invasion of Ukraine by the Russian army at the end of February, calling for athletes from the two belligerent countries to be banned. But it has still not suspended its own Russian members, four in number (including two active members), despite pressure from the Swiss authorities.
Consequence or not, the boat is rocking and threatens to take on water. Over the past few days, there have been numerous examples of sometimes very haphazard management of the Russian question in the sports movement.
At the end of last week, the International Swimming Federation announced that it had suspended Russian swimmer Yevgeny Rylov, Olympic champion in the 100 and 200m backstroke at the Tokyo 2020 Games, for a period of nine months. This was due to his participation last month in a pro-Vladimir Putin rally in Moscow. The FINA Disciplinary Commission found that he had broken the rules by “his alleged participation in a pro-war rally".
But according to the Russian agency TASS, Yevgeny Rylov is entered in the Russian swimming championships, which began on Sunday April 24 in Kazan. He must compete in the three backstroke distances, 50, 100 and 200 m. The double Olympic champion is however suspended by FINA until next January. A suspension that he doesn’t seem to care much about. Neither does his federation. She validated her participation. Its president, former swimmer Vladimir Salnikov, is a member of the FINA Bureau.
Another case: boxing. Its international federation, the IBA, remains to this day the only body of the Olympic movement with the ISSF (the international shooting federation) still actively chaired by a Russian official. Elected in December 2020, Umar Kremlev has not abandoned his office since the start of the conflict in Ukraine, even temporarily.
The IBA announced at the end of last week: Umar Kremlev will seek a new mandate next month during the body's election congress in Istanbul. Of course, he will not be the only candidate, the Dutchman Boris van der Vorst having also submitted a candidacy. But the presence of Umar Kremlev as outgoing candidate, representative of a country banned from the Olympic movement, will give the ballot a more political dimension than ever.
Skating also displays a curious landscape. Its international federation, the ISU, followed the IOC’s recommendation. She banned Russian and Belarusian athletes. But Russia and Belarus appear en masse in the list of candidate countries for international events for the next four years, unveiled by the ISU at the end of last week.
Russia has submitted four application files. Moscow, the capital, is applying to host the Junior World Speed Skating Championships in 2025 and 2026. Sochi is a candidate to host the Junior Short Track World Championships in 2025. Kolomna aims to host the European Championships speed skating in 2026
Belarus, for its part, has submitted five application files to the ISU. Minsk, the capital, particularly wants to obtain the World Junior Figure Skating Championships in 2024 and the European Speed Skating Championships in 2025.
In tennis, the decision of Wimbledon organizers to ban Russian and Belarusian players continues to arouse criticism from the industry. Steve Simon, the head of the WTA (the Professional Players Association), told the Tennis Podcast that this announcement had been “ extremely disappointing“. The American insisted: “ The one thing our sport has always agreed on is that entry into our events must be based on merit, without any discrimination."
Steve Simon announced, during the same interview, that the WTA would quickly bring together its stakeholders to discuss the position to adopt. He suggested that it would undoubtedly be decided to apply “ strong sanctions » against the organizers of Wimbledon.
In tennis, excluding Russian and Belarusian athletes is considered discriminatory and punishable. Everywhere else in the sports movement, such a decision is applauded with both hands. Confused.
