Minister for Sport says Russian participation in Olympics harms credibility of international sport

Thomas Byrne confirms he has joined group of 36 sports ministers calling out IOC plan for Paris Games

Ireland’s Minister of State for Sport Thomas Byrne has said allowing Russians or Belarusians to compete in next year’s Paris Olympic Games as “so-called neutral athletes” cannot seriously be contemplated by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) unless it addresses outstanding issues.

Byrne confirmed that he had signed a collective statement by 36 like-minded sports ministers worldwide on Russia’s war on Ukraine and international sport.

He said Russia and Belarus must not be allowed to compete unless they address obvious concerns such as the close military connections of athletes, state funding, the definition of what constitutes teams and on enforcement mechanisms.

“Ireland is firm in its support for Ukraine and is clear that Russia’s flagrant breach of the Olympic Truce on two occasions cannot be conveniently ignored by the IOC,” said the Minister.

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“The credibility of international sport is at stake and the IOC must act with decisiveness and absolute clarity.”

At Wimbledon the All England Club and the Lawn Tennis Association jointly opted to reverse their bans policy of last year, when they did not allow Russian and Belarusian players compete in the 2022 championships.

They will be allowed to compete in this year’s tournament, which begins in July. However, the athletes will be required to sign a neutrality agreement with the agreement split into three categories.

The players and staff will be agreeing that they are not representing the Russian or Belarusian states, they will confirm that they are not receiving funding from their states or companies controlled by the state, and they will not express support for the invasion or their home governments.

The Minister emphasised that Ireland fully respected the autonomy of sporting organisations. However, that did not mean “that we simply sit quietly on the sideline and not call out the total necessity for all sporting organisations to always live up to their responsibilities and vindicate the values of mutual respect and tolerance that must underpin international sport.”

He added that the IOC will be judged based on actions, not words.

“I will be closely watching the implementation of the recommendations by the IOC and international sports federations over the coming weeks,” he said.

The 36 sports ministers agreed to the statement after considering recommendations by the IOC in March of this year to allow individual Russian and Belarusian athletes to take part in international competitions without displaying national symbols.

Those recommendations were condemned by Ukraine, which has raised the possibility of boycotting the Olympics if Russian and Belarusian athletes are allowed to compete.

“We underline again that our position is not one of discrimination against individuals on the basis of their passport, and we respect the rights of all athletes to be treated without any discrimination in accordance with the Olympic Charter,” said the official collective statement.

“We are focused on fair sporting competition as well as on ensuring that Russian and Belarusian athletes are in no way appearing as representatives of their states, as the IOC is also seeking to ensure through its recommendations.”

The countries whose sports representatives signed the statement are Albania, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Ukraine, the United Kingdom and the United States.

Johnny Watterson

Johnny Watterson

Johnny Watterson is a sports writer with The Irish Times