A joint statement from the Athletes of Ukraine and Global Athlete
A joint statement from the Athletes of Ukraine and Global Athlete
2 March 2022: As Russian and Belarusian bombs rain down on Ukrainian citizens, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) today issued another blow to every Ukrainian athlete and citizen by allowing Russian and Belarusian athletes compete at the 2022 Beijing Paralympic Games. Yesterday, 19-year-old Ukrainian biathlete Yevhen Malyshev was killed in combat in Ukraine, defending his country against Russia’s attack. How many more lives need to be lost before sport implements meaningful sanctions?
The IPC claims they are acting by forcing Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete under a neutral flag. But the Russian flag was already prohibited from the Paralympics as punishment for a decade of state-sponsored doping and data manipulation.
With or without a neutral label, the Russian and Belarusian authorities will use their athlete’s participation in these Games as state propaganda. During the Games and upon the athletes’ return home, these authoritarian regimes will use every ounce of their athletes’ success to justify and distract from their brutal war.
Lives are being lost, families are being torn apart, and tears flow for the Ukrainian nation. The IPC and sport cannot stop the violence, but they could have sent a message that Russian and Belarusian’s action warrant the toughest sanctions and complete isolation.
Additionally, today’s decision from the IPC provides another example of the stranglehold the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has over the IPC. The IOC influenced the IPC decision to allow Russia back from institutionalized doping, and it has influenced today’s decision as well. On Monday, the IOC failed to suspend the Russian and Belarusian National Olympic committees. Today the IPC does the same. Both the IOC and IPC continue to chose politics over principle and Russian interests over athletes’ interest.
Make no mistake, sport is politics. Putin has consistently used the Olympic and Paralympic Games to advance his domestic and international agendas. Many Russian Olympic and Paralympic Committee athletes are members of the Russian military. Sport administrators’ claims of “political neutrality” are a convenient lie used to deflect calls to stand up for human rights and peace.
Over the past week the Ukrainian and Belarusian athletes, along with hundreds of Olympians and Paralympians from around the world, have called on the IOC and IPC to immediately suspend the Russian and Belarusian National Olympic and Paralympic Committees. This call included the banning of all Russian and Belarusian athletes from international sport, including from the 2022 Beijing Paralympic Games. These calls were backed by athlete groups from Canada, Germany, the United States, and the World Players Association. The demands of athletes have been cast aside in favour of Russian interests. Sport administrators are choosing bloodshed and profits over principle and stakeholders.
-ENDS -