There is such a charter: how will the IOC reforms affect Russia's return to the Games
The 146th extraordinary session of the International Olympic Committee will be held in Lausanne on June 24-25. The Russian sports community expects signals from the upcoming meeting about the easing or even complete lifting of restrictions from our sport. At the same time, the "Russian question" is not on the official agenda. Instead, IOC President Kirsty Coventry intends to strengthen the principle of political neutrality of world sport and consolidate its independence from external pressure.
Some believe that such an approach could potentially pave the way for Russia's full-fledged return to the international arena. Others believe that talk about the neutrality and autonomy of sports can be used as a tool to justify any restrictive measures. Therefore, we should not expect rapid and fundamental changes yet.
The division of countries is a dead end
For the Zimbabwean swimmer, the Fit for the Future ("Ready for the Future") reform program is the first tangible attempt to correct the course of the former IOC leadership and, finally, move from reasoning to at least some action. However, recently there have been decisions to protect women's sports from transgender and intersex people (the LGBT movement is recognized as extremist and banned in the Russian Federation). But this can be considered an exception to the general trend. In general, the Coventry team spent almost a year on unhurried debates in endless commissions. And it certainly doesn't look like the crisis management that the main sports organization on the planet needs. Anyway, on June 24-25, officials intend to discuss changes to the IOC Charter, consisting of two main blocks.
First, it is proposed to supplement the fundamental principles of Olympism with a strict commitment to "maintain neutrality at all times." These changes are intended to "protect athletes and competitions from external pressure, as well as to prevent the use of sports and athletes for political or economic purposes." In fact, these amendments may prohibit the suspension of athletes by passport or due to government actions. But the IOC does not prohibit the application of sanctions to the authorities of individual countries, for example, in the form of a ban on the flag or revocation of the right to host international competitions.
Secondly, it is proposed to remove the list of recognized international federations from the text of the Charter. According to the reformers, this will make the Olympic program more flexible and focused not on sports, but on individual disciplines.
This approach can increase the commercial attractiveness of the Olympics and make the program more diverse. However, it also carries certain risks. In particular, no sport will be able to count on a guaranteed number of medals at the Games. In addition, the constant rotation of disciplines can gradually blur the status of the Olympic sport. Some experts also believe that by taking international federations beyond the Charter, the IOC leadership seeks to reduce their influence, including on politically sensitive issues.
Of course, the point about neutrality is most interesting for Russia at the moment. It is obvious to everyone that the division of countries into "progressive" and "non—progressive" in the modern world is a dead end. The IOC has long been trying to painlessly break the impasse with political sanctions, into which it drove itself in 2022. And it seems that the current statements about the neutrality and autonomy of sports are just about that.
"If amendments to the Charter are adopted, sports federations will have less power. This raises the suspicion that in this way the IOC wants to pave the way for an easy return to Russia," Antti Pihlakoski, a member of the Board of the International Association of World Athletics, said in an interview with the Finnish edition of Helsingin Sanomat.
Moscow believes that the request for a review of the sanctions policy in world sports is gradually increasing. According to Mikhail Degtyarev, Minister of Sports of the Russian Federation and head of the ROC, political restrictions are detrimental to the entire Olympic movement, and a full-fledged return of Russia would benefit both Olympism itself and international sports in general. He also noted that more and more states advocate equal conditions for all participants of the competition, regardless of the political situation.
"We cited the example of the aggression of the United States and Israel against Iran. Strangely enough, this helped us in the negotiation process, because it revealed such obvious double standards. Now, at any meeting, we say, "Guys, we don't want to exclude Israel and America, but explain the difference." There are more and more such voices in the world, it helps us," Degtyarev said at the last SPIEF.
A comfortable mask
At the same time, one should not delude oneself about the IOC's turn towards Russia. Coventry is clearly waiting for Western economic sanctions to be lifted from our country — this will allow Lausanne to avoid the risk of falling under secondary banking restrictions. Mikhail Degtyarev is currently on the sanctions lists of the United States, Great Britain, Canada and Australia. Perhaps this is what makes the IOC delay restoring recognition of OCD, although there do not seem to be any legal obstacles.
In any case, even if amendments to the Charter are adopted, it will take a long time to take concrete steps to "ensure safe and fair access to sports while preserving the integrity, universality and peaceful mission of the Olympic Games." Especially if some international federations (for example, athletics and biathlon) continue their Russophobic stubbornness.
In general, the initiatives of the IOC leadership are being severely criticized, not only because they are suspected of being "pro-Russian." Many lawyers point out that there is no clear definition of "neutrality" in the Olympic Charter, which allows Lausanne to use this concept as a tool to promote its own political narratives and reprisals against undesirable athletes, federations or national committees.
The IOC is not responsible for violating its neutrality obligations — no international arbitration, including CAS, currently has jurisdiction to hold Olympic officials accountable. Autonomy thus turns into impunity.
We could see what "neutrality" in the IOC's understanding is during the admission of our athletes without a flag to major competitions in the last three years. If we put aside the paranoia about national symbols, then we can conclude that the updated Charter can be used to ban current athletes from any ideological statements in the media and social networks, including likes, reposting and publishing pictures with politicians.
Also, the topic of the "peaceful mission of sports" calls into question the connection of Olympians with military structures. And this, to put it mildly, goes against the traditions of many countries where the army participates in the financing of high-performance sports.
In general, there is an encroachment on the civil rights of athletes (including the right to participate in the political life of their countries), as well as on freedom of speech, conscience and other basic values. And most importantly, who exactly will interpret certain actions of athletes?
"Political neutrality is a convenient mask to take sides by saying that you are not doing this," notes the American edition of The Conversation. — What is beneficial to some countries is declared neutrality, and what is unprofitable is politics. Neutrality does not remove politics from sports. This is just another way to consolidate it."
Similar claims to the concept of neutrality have been heard more and more frequently in recent years. However, Lausanne believes that it is the refusal to involve sports in interstate conflicts that should become one of the key principles of the Olympic movement.
"We understand politics and we know that we don't work in a vacuum. But our playground is a sport. We want to keep sport a neutral territory — a place where every athlete can compete, without being held back by politics or government disagreements. In an increasingly divided world, these principles are more important than ever... We can't be everything to everyone," Kirsty Coventry said.
On May 7, the IOC completely lifted sanctions against Belarusian sports, including restrictions on state symbols and team sports. But this decision does not apply to Russia yet — Coventry refers to some anti-doping problems in our country. The topic of our complex and politicized relations with WADA has been discussed for more than 10 years and is accurately described by Cardinal Richelieu's aphorism: "Give me six lines written by the hand of the most honest person, and I will find in them something for which he can be hanged."
If desired, quibbles and explanations about the extension of sanctions restrictions can be found endlessly. And it takes political courage to turn over this dark page in the history of sports. The Zimbabwean swimmer has not demonstrated it yet. But perhaps the successful start of reforms will make her at least a little bolder.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
