Bach acknowledged the IOC’s “dilemma” before the Russia veto

The President of the International Olympic Committee, Thomas Bach, assured this Thursday that the statement of various governments against Russia after it attacked Ukraine puts the Olympic body before a “dilemma” that it cannot “solve”. because its mission is that all athletes in the world can meet, even if their countries are at war or in conflict.

Bach expressed himself in these terms at a press conference in Oviedo, accompanied by various members of the Refugee Olympic Foundation and the Refugee Olympic Team, who were recognized with the 2022 Princess of Sports Award, whose award they will collect this Friday in a ceremony. led by the kings of Spain.

“This is a unique situation“said the president of the IOC, who pointed out that unlike how countries behave in other conflicts, in the case of the Russian invasion of Ukraine this is the “first time” where there is a position in the government where ” They started decide for themselves. who can participate in which international competitions and who cannot.

“Because of the reaction of governments, we had to take these protective measures to guarantee the integrity of international competitions, because they have to be fair, and this means that the sports authorities have to be able to decide who is qualified to participate . in a competition.” he says.

Bach said that this government’s approach puts the Olympic body in a “dilemma”. not “solved” because its mission as a sports organization and as an IOC is that all athletes in the world can come together, even if their countries are at war or have a conflict.

“Beyond those events,” Bach underlined, outlining the value of sport to show that sports competitions are peaceful and, as in the Olympic Games, “everyone there accepts the same rules.”

The intervention of governments prevents the IOC from “fulfilling this mission”, although it chooses to continue “efforts” in the hope that in the future “the world can be united” through sport and peaceful competition.

Bach wanted to “clarify” that “this is very different from the punishments made against those responsible” for this war, in the sense that no international competition will be held in Russia, nor can any Russian anthem, flag or identity be shown in the exams, in addition to the fact that “for the first time” the President of Russia Vladimir Putin was removed from in the “Olympic order” Putin.

“These are the actions taken against those responsible for the war, but the athletes should not be punished for the actions of their governments if they don’t actively support them,” Bach said.

The IOC president chose to carefully monitor the situation and make every effort to protect the athletes and the values ​​of international competitions.

Sport WITHOUT DISCRIMINATION

When asked about the cases of transgender athletes, he said that the approach of the IOC is “very clear” that in sports “everyone, without any discrimination, is accepted”, and pointed out that the organizations have to ensure a competition that is “fair” so that there must be rules that guarantee this fairness.

These rules, he insists, can differ between certain sports and disciplines, since in some men and women compete against each other, such as horse riding or sailing, which means “no regulation is necessary in this regard”, while “it can be a very clear difference” in ski jumping, weightlifting or athletics.

“The international federations receive very clear advice there,” Bach explained, noting that a good number of consultations were held, including those made with medical and ethical experts, before issuing recommendations, and then based on these “scientific” statements are issued. on regulations in each discipline to “ensure fair competition”.

Bach will this Friday collect the prize awarded to the IOC Refugee Olympic Foundation and Team, which was created to support and offer potential elite athletes with United Nations refugee status the opportunity to qualify and participate in the Olympic Games.

The award went to these organizations for facilitating the development of both sporting and personal activities for athletes in conflict zones and places where human rights are violated.

In the same press conference, the head of the Olympic Refugee Foundation, Jojo Ferris, said that in the last twenty months the UNHCR had to deal with 32 crises.

“We cannot compromise people’s future but what we can say is that there are many opportunities to be part of the Olympic community,” he said.

The Refugee Team has “great results”, some of the athletes have been able to settle in third countries, according to Ferris, noting that they constitute a “very small part of all refugees, when the hundreds of millions of people have had to flee Almost one percent of their houses have been repaired.”