international-olympic-committee-calls-russia-banned-from-sports

International Olympic Committee Calls for Russia to Be Banned From Sports

Less than a week after Russia began its invasion of Ukraine, more and more consequences for this military action are beginning to surface. Such consequences are sanctions and even potential impacts on sporting events. This includes future Summer and Winter Olympics. 

According to ESPN, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) is calling for future international events organizers to exclude Russia. The organization declares that the exclusion needs to happen in order to “protect the integrity of global sports competitions and for the safety of all the participants.”

The IOC also says this call applies to athletes and officials from Belarus. The country is allowing its country to be used to station troopers and launch military attacks on Ukraine. The IOC says it is acting “with a heavy heart” about the decision. But the impact of the war on Ukraine outweighs the potential damage done to athletes from both Russia and Belarus. 

However, although the IOC is making the call to ban athletes from the two countries, this is notably not a “total blanket ban” by the organization. ESPN notes that where exclusion was not possible on short notice and for organization or legal reasons, then teams Russia and Belarus should compete as neutral athletes. This includes no national anthem, flag, or symbols. Participation like this may happen at the upcoming Winter Paralympics in Beijing, China. 

Along with Olympics, FIFA Is Suspending Russia Due to Ukraine Invasion

Meanwhile, FIFA has reportedly suspended Russia and its team from all competition. The global soccer organization states it is ejecting the country from qualifying for the 2022 World Cup. This announcement comes just a few weeks before Russia is to play for one of Europe’s final places in the upcoming tournament. The 2022 World Cup will take place in Qatar. 

FIFA, as well as its European counterpart, UEFA, said the ban on all Russian teams is in place until further notice. The organizations’ statements read, “Following the initial decisions adopted by the FIFA Council and the UEFA Executive Committee, which envisage the adoption of additional measures, FIFA and UEFA have today decided together that all Russian teams. Whether national representative teams or club teams shall be suspended from participation in both FIFA and UEFA competitions. Until further notice.”

The organizations note, “Football is fully united here and in full solidarity with all the people affected in Ukraine. Both Presidents hope that the situation in Ukraine will improve significantly. And rapidly so that football can again be a vector for unity and peace amongst people.”

FIFA previously stated that its initial decision was not to eject Russia. However, the President of the Poland Soccer Federation, Cezary Kulesza, called the decision totally unacceptable. He shares on Twitter that the Polish team has no interest in participating in the “games of interest.”

He adds, “Our stance remains intact: Polish National Team will NOT PLAY with Russia. No matter what the name of the team is.”