American writer Elbert Hubbard once coined the phrase: ‘A friend is someone who knows all about you and still loves you.’ Maybe this is indeed the essence of true friendship, and I hope that you, dear reader, do have people in your life who love you for being the person they know you are, and not the one they wish you were.
Somehow it is exactly this phrase that keeps popping up in my mind when I see pictures of IOC president Thomas Bach and his good friend Vladimir Putin. Well, I don’t know if they really have some sort of personal relationship, but they seem to get along quite fine, and Bach certainly knows everything he has to know about the true character of Putin, his warmongering, his ‘human rights record’, his total control of sport in Russia, of him being an extremely dangerous dictator. And still Bach maintains this cameraderie, friendship, closeness, whatever you might call it, and personally protects Russia and its (government-controlled) sports organizations from too harsh sanctions.
And so, the wording of today’s ‘Declaration by the IOC against the politicization of sport’ might surprise many. While Russia is not mentioned explicitly in the heading, there can be no doubt that this statement is directed exclusively against them. The immediate cause for this text is called ‘the Friendship Games’, a Russian propaganda show, currently being planned by Russia’s leadership. Games especially designed for those athletes who cannot participate in the Paris Olympics, or any subsequent edition, due to sanctions by International Federations or the IOC itself, because, yes, some of these sanctions are still in existence, despite the best efforts of Putins good friend(s). And the IOC has some strong words to say about the ‘Friendship Games’:
It is a cynical attempt by the Russian Federation to politicise sport. The IOC Athletes’ Commission, representing all the Olympic athletes of the world, clearly opposes using athletes for political propaganda. The Commission even sees the risk of athletes being forced by their governments into participating in such a fully politicised sports event, thereby being exploited as part of a political propaganda campaign.
Declaration by the IOC against the politicisation of sport, 19 March 2024
As far as I can remember, this is the first time that the IOC explicitly stated that Russia was engaging in politicising sport, which is the very thing it has been doing for the better part of its existence. But it’s not only about the ‘Friendship Games’ this time. The IOC statement goes further than that, further than condemning the blatant attempt to challenge the Committee’s control over all international sports and take away some of the financial benefits that come along with that.
The Russian government also shows total disrespect for the global anti-doping standards and the integrity of competitions. This is the very same government which was implicated in the systemic doping programme at the Olympic Winter Games Sochi 2014 and, later, the manipulation of anti-doping data.
Declaration by the IOC against the politicisation of sport, 19 March 2024
Oh, congratulations and welcome to reality, IOC!
Yes it is the ‘very same government’. The very same government you, IOC, Olympic Movement, and especially Thomas Bach, have been protecting throughout all of this. Knowing full well about the true extent of the betrayal, of the systemic doping programme in existence in Russia for many years. Knowing that the Russian government and the sports organizations it still controls have been lying in your face, cheating, manipulating all along. The IOC declaration concludes thus:
For all these reasons: the blatant violation of the Olympic Charter; the infringement of the respective UN resolutions; the disrespect for the athletes and for the integrity of sports competitions; the Olympic Movement strongly condemns any initiative to fully politicise sport, in particular the establishment of fully politicised sports events by the Russian government.
Declaration by the IOC against the politicisation of sport, 19 March 2024
Strong words. To be honest, I haven’t heard something like that from the IOC (directed against Russia at least) for a long time, neither from any other sports organization, with a few notable exceptions (World Athletics and the IPC, among others…). But, as any parent or teacher or judge will tell you, words have to be followed by consequences. If the IOC is now admitting what it has known all along, that Russia is blatantly violating the Olympic Charter and several UN resolutions, disrespecting the athletes and the integrity of sports competitions, and abusing sport and the athletes themselves for political propaganda, how on earth can they still justify to admit a single athlete from that system to participate in the Olympic Games?
And to this, I have just one answer: Friendship. Bach has had full knowledge of all the facts for years, yet he still loves his good friend at the Kremlin. He is complicit in everything the IOC now (correctly!) accuses Russia of doing or failing to do. And I wouldn’t bet a penny on Bach himself suddenly changing his mind and implementing any real and effective consequences. Maybe in addition to the quote above, he should keep in mind the following, equally true quote:
It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends.
Albus Dumbledore (J.K. Rowling: Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone)
The full text of the IOCs Declaration can be found here: Declaration by the IOC against the politicisation of sport (external link)
The Beautiful Games 