Relocation of the 2022 Champions League final, exclusion from the World Cup and Wimbledon tennis... Russia, banned from the vast majority of international competitions since the start of the war in Ukraine, has seen the International Olympic Committee ( CIO) recommend the return of its sportsmen on Tuesday.
To discover
Five things to know about ticketing for the 2024 Olympics
February 2022: the Champions League final relocated to Paris
Initially scheduled for Saint Petersburg, the C1 final was moved by UEFA to Paris, at the Stade de France, a few days after Russia invaded Ukraine.
The European football body subsequently decided to terminate its contract with the Russian oil giant Gazprom, one of its main sponsors since 2012.
Russians excluded from European and international competitions
After the relocation of the Champions League final, UEFA and Fifa announced on February 28, 2022 the exclusion of the Russian national team from qualifying for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
All selections and clubs are also excluded until further notice.
Russia, which had hosted the World Cup four years earlier, denounces a "
discriminatory
" measure.
Russia is excluded from the qualifications for Euro-2024 which have just started, not Belarus which must play its “
home
” matches on neutral ground.
Read alsoWar in Ukraine: Russia excluded from the Football World Cup
Wimbledon says no
While they are already deprived of Davis Cup and Billie Jean King Cup, team competitions, Russian and Belarusian players are excluded from Wimbledon in April.
The prestigious London grass tournament is the first to rule out athletes from both countries, such as Daniil Medvedev and Aryna Sabalenka.
On the other hand, they can continue to participate, without mentioning their nationality, in other Grand Slam meetings and tournaments on the ATP and WTA circuits, with several players delivering messages of peace.
In 2023, the IOC opens the door for the Games
At the end of January, the International Olympic Committee sketched out a roadmap for the international federations with a view to bringing Russia and Belarus back into the fold of Olympism.
According to the IOC, “
no athlete should be banned from competition solely on the basis of their passport
".
The conditions listed: participation under a neutral banner, the obligation not to have supported the war and to comply with the world anti-doping code.
An opening denounced in particular by kyiv, which threatens to boycott the 2024 Olympics in Paris.
Several countries support Ukraine like Poland or the Baltic countries.
Thirty countries, including Great Britain, the United States and Canada are asking for clarification.
The Asian and African Olympic committees support the IOC's approach for reinstatement.
Fencing, the first sport to reintegrate athletes
On March 10, the International Fencing Federation (FIE) came out in favor of the return of Russians and Belarusians to its competitions.
A decision taken just over a year before the 2024 Olympics in Paris and which will come into force from April “
subject to any recommendations or future decisions of the IOC
”.
The Ukrainian Federation says it is "
deeply shocked
", its German counterpart renounces the organization of a stage of the Women's Foil World Cup which was to take place in early May.
Read alsoFencing: the International Federation reintegrates Russians and Belarusians a year and a half before the Olympics
World Athletics sticks to its guns
Olympic sport No. 1, athletics chooses on March 23 to maintain the exclusion of Russian and Belarusian athletes "
in the near future, due to the invasion of Ukraine
", specifies the president of the international federation Sebastian Coe .
Athletes have been banned since March 2022.
Boycotted World Boxing Championships
While several international federations, such as those of gymnastics and skating, disciplines where the Russians are among the best in the world, chose exclusion after the start of the war, this was not the case with the International Boxing Federation.
The IBA, chaired by a Russian (Umar Kremlev), gives its approval to the participation of the two nations in the Women's Worlds in New Delhi (India).
The event is boycotted by several countries, including Ukraine, the United States, Canada or Great Britain.
The French Federation participates, wishing to remain "
neutral
" before the Olympic Games organized at home.
Russians and Belarusians will also participate in the Men's Worlds, scheduled from May 1 to 14 in Tashkent (Uzbekistan).
IOC recommends reinstatement
The IOC clarifies its position on Tuesday March 28, 2023 through the voice of its President Thomas Bach, recommending the reintegration of Russian and Belarusian athletes under a neutral banner and "in an individual capacity", provided that they have "not
actively
supported
the war in Ukraine
”.
The open letter from more than 300 fencers asking the IOC that morning to “
maintain (its) suspension recommendations
” against Russian and Belarusian athletes does not measure up.
On the other hand, the body does not formulate an opinion concerning the participation of Russia and Belarus in the Paris Olympic Games in 2024, stating that it will decide “
at the appropriate time
”.
/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/prisa/RZ36PFONNFLCPKJL2GLTY5NBN4.jpg)
