The sports organizations that have played footsie with autocratic nations will have to answer for their actions. The Premier League, Formula One, and any sports league that pretends business is business, have cashed checks from questionable international sources. The world order has been disrupted and so are the games. Ukrainian tennis player Elina Svitolina refused to play a match against an opponent from Russia. She doesn't blame the players, but she isn't willing to pretend that her country isn't in danger from a player across the court. Ukrainian players have requested to be accepted as neutral athletes by the IOC, without displaying any national symbols or flags.
Sergiy Stakhovsky said he joined the Ukrainian reserves.
Most of the time there is a greater advantage in allowing free global competition than in keeping a ledger to show how often nations deviate from international values; a ledger that would reveal the United States as much as any other.
There are times when we face the same problem.
It's worth noting that this isn't the first time that Putin has killed peaceful citizens. Numerous outlets have detailed the times Russia has been destructive in recent years, whether in Chechnya, the Republic of Georgia, or Syria, or using misinformation as a weapon in free elections abroad. The report found that Putin was active in the election.
Putin's own political opponent, Alexei Navalny, is on trial after surviving a grave threat on his life, facing 20 years in jail on charges few outside of Russia believe have any basis in fact.
The invasion of Ukraine happened last week. At any point, sports leagues and governing bodies could have refused to accept Russian money and pretended that Russia was not a real player. They could have declined to use Russian venues as host sites or purchased teams. They could not help but allow the dictators to prance on the biggest sports stages in the world.
Putin traveled to Beijing last month for the start of the Olympic Games and to meet with the Chinese President. There was talk that he might be cited for violating rules against political speech during the Olympics because he held up a sign that said "No War in Ukraine."
It has been Putin's Russia that has broken Olympic rule-breaking. The team was found to have instituted a comprehensive program to replace its athletes and could not compete as a nation in Beijing. Russian athletes were out of the headlines for DOPING after 15-year-old skater Kamila Valieva won gold and then had a sample come back with evidence of a banned substance and two additional heart medications.
The international truce was the most sacred Olympic tradition. The first part of the Olympics is over, but the international truce continues through the Paralympics on Friday.
The IOC president reiterates his call for peace in his speeches at the opening and closing ceremonies.
It's too late for speeches as the tanks roll toward Kyiv. Bullies only understand accountability, and it didn't come in time. Rules were imposed on athletes who use their platforms to discuss injustice, not the perpetrators.
This is the moment. Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich has handed over control of his club to a charity in order to avoid being stripped of the team. The IOC recommends that sports leagues only allow athletes from Russia and Belarus to compete. Russia was banned from the World Cup after many nations objected to playing against the team or at Russian venues.
The barn door was shut after the horse got out.
Politics are not kept out of international sports. Pretending that one could draw a line between the two is pointless. The only way to proceed is to be clear-eyed about the historical and humanitarian context each nation brings to compete and have clear, enforceable standards.
Sports leagues have been looking at the other way for a long time.
All Rights Reserved © 2024
