The first attempts
The story surrounding the possible non-participation of Ukrainian athletes in the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris has been going on for a long time. And it all started with ridiculous blackmail by the National Olympic Committee of Ukraine, when the NOC simply threatened to boycott the Olympics if Russian and Belarusian athletes participated there.
However, even then, Ukrainians received a clear message that the International Olympic Committee would not succumb to blackmail, and without Ukrainian athletes, world sports would not be impoverished.
RIA Novosti
“The IOC has taken note of the Ukrainian government’s decision to ban Ukrainian athletes from participating in qualifying competitions for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris if they have to compete with athletes with Russian passports. If such a decision is implemented, it will only harm the Ukrainian sports community. The IOC has always maintained that governments should not decide which athletes can participate in which international competitions,” the IOC press service said at the time.
The second swallow
Then the Ukrainian authorities decided to act differently. In April, Ukraine’s Ministry of Youth and Sports simply banned its athletes from competing with representatives from Russia and Belarus. As punishment for violating this prohibition, it was proposed to deprive the federation of national status, which deprived them of state support.
However, this didn’t work either. Athletes boycotted the World Boxing Championships, but even without their participation, competitions were held at the highest level.
Ukraine’s withdrawal
A month ago, Ukrainians realized that the situation was clearly not in their favor. And already in June, in a clever way, they changed the wording in the prohibition order … Simply removing the word “prohibition” from it. Instead of banning athletes from participating in competitions in which Russians and Belarusians compete, the wording has become softer. They simply stated that Ukraine would not send delegations to competitions with Russians and Belarusians.
However, such changes did not affect the IOC and its desire to return Russian and Belarusian athletes to international competitions.
Getty Images
One of the important milestones in the development of this story was the situation at the World Fencing Championships in Milan. The Russians and Belarusians went there, and the Ukrainians went there, albeit against their principles. However, they made it clear that they would not compete on the same platform with the Russians, refusing to participate in that type of fencing where they would compete with Russian athletes. However, the IOC did not fall for this provocation either, making it clear that the decision lies with the Ukrainians. If they don’t want to compete in the Olympics and the selections for it, that’s their business, and the position of the International Olympic Committee has remained unwavering.
Capitulation of the Ministry of Sports of Ukraine
Realizing that nothing will be possible to achieve boycotts and blackmail from the IOC, and the only thing that can be achieved with this is the Olympic Games without Ukrainians, the Ministry of Sports made the most important decision. Allow its athletes to compete in the same competitions as Russians and Belarusians, but on one condition: the absence of national symbols. It is simply ridiculous to present these as conditions set by Ukrainian officials: the IOC has already officially announced that Russian and Belarusian athletes will not have any symbols at the Olympics. However, this does not prevent the Ukrainian Ministry of Sports from presenting the situation as a small victory. It is true that the entire right part of the sports community understands that this is nothing more than a capitulation due to fruitless blackmail.
Ukraine’s NOC has stopped trying to cut the branch on which it sits. The only question is for how long.
Although, given the situation, if the IOC were to allow Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete in the Olympics with the flag and anthem, Ukrainian ministers in their offices would have no choice but to sign an order allowing their athletes to participate in competitions. The IOC has taken a firm stand, and no matter how much this story in Ukraine is presented as a small victory, in fact, everyone around them understands that they had to give in, despite the conditions set at the time.Previously.
