Last month, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) relaxed its guidelines on Russia and Belarus for the first time since the start of the Ukraine war, allowing their athletes to compete as individual neutrals, provided they did not support Vladimir’s invasion They may not even be affiliated with the army.
This has sparked outrage in Ukraine at government level, with planned boycotts of events involving Russian and Belarusian athletes.
Earlier this month, the Ukrainian Ministry of Sports drafted a resolution seeking to withdraw the status and funding of national federations if they do not adhere to such a policy.
An amended resolution was adopted by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, the highest body of state executive power in the country, which makes its execution mandatory.
The resolution did not prove to be universally popular in Ukraine.
The Ukrainian Tennis Federation’s opposition to the boycott proposal was mentioned by the IOC in its criticism of the government’s position.
The Ukrainian tennis federation said a boycott of events involving Russia and Belarus would “lead to the destruction of Ukrainian tennis, while the IOC said the government’s decree on national federations “raises serious questions about the autonomy of Ukrainian sport”.
The IOC has promised Olympic Solidarity funds for Ukrainian athletes affected by any ban, and President Thomas Bach has criticized governments that have criticized its stance on Russia and Belarus, calling it “deplorable”.
Ukrainian skeleton athlete Vladyslav Heraskevych, a vocal critic of the IOC and the participation of Russia and Belarus in international sports, condemned the Ministry of Youth and Sports led by the president of the National Olympic Committee of Ukraine, Vadym Gutzeit, for “incompetence”.
He claimed on Twitter that blocking Ukrainian athletes from competitions would give “Russian representatives the opportunity to promote their narratives and propaganda” and would amount to “a white flag from Ukrainian sports”.
Critics say there should be no place for Russia and Belarus in sport while the war is ongoing, and practical problems remain with their athletes competing in events particularly in Europe.
Russia criticized the continued ban on its national symbols, but the IOC said it had “found a middle ground”.
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