Criticism of IOC’s Russia stance is ‘deplorable’: Bach

Olympic chief Thomas Bach has condemned as “deplorable” the criticism by European governments over his push to reintegrate Russian and Belarusian athletes into world sports before the 2024 Paris Games.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Bach also suggested those governments - which seemed to include his own home country Germany - had “double standards” for focusing on athletes from countries involved in just one of about 70 wars and armed conflicts ongoing in the world.

Bach detailed IOC advice on Tuesday to individual Olympic sports bodies of conditions by which they could decide to approve individual Russian or Belarusians to compete as neutral athletes, while continuing a ban from team sports.

The IOC said sports should exclude athletes who have military links, though Bach clarified on Thursday this likely should not apply to those who did one year of mandatory service.

“We have taken note of some negative reactions by some European governments in particular,” Bach said at a news conference after an IOC executive board meeting.

Germany sports minister Nancy Faeser said the IOC’s shift from its position one year ago to exclude all athletes and teams from Russia and Belarus was “a slap in the face of Ukrainian athletes.”

“Those who let the warmonger Russia use international competitions for its propaganda are damaging the Olympic idea of peace and international understanding,” Faeser said, echoing comments from other Ukrainian allies including Poland.

Bach responded it was deplorable that some governments “do not want to respect the majority within the Olympic movement and of all the stakeholders nor the autonomy of sport which they are praising and requesting from other countries.”

“It’s deplorable that these governments don’t address the question of double standards with which we have been confronted,” the German lawyer added.

“We have not seen a single comment from them about their attitude about the participation of athletes whose countries are involved in the other 70 wars and armed conflicts in the world.”

Criticism of sports officials was only hardening their stance against lawmakers, Bach suggested, and “strengthened the unity”.

“It cannot be up to the governments to decide which athletes can participate in which competition,” he said.

The final decision on which Russian and Belarusian teams can compete in international events, including qualification for the Paris Olympics, is for the governing bodies of individual sports.”

However, World Athletics said last week it will continue its more than year-long exclusion for “the foreseeable future.”