UN experts stressed that despite the desire to support Ukrainian athletes, the Olympic community must abide by the rules of the Olympic Charter and refuse to discriminate against athletes from the Russian Federation and Belarus.
The United Nations has approved the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) decision to allow individual athletes from Russia and Belarus to compete impartially in international sporting events. The international organization urged to go further and abandon “discrimination on the basis of nationality”. The UN experts’ statement was published on the organization’s official website on 1 February.
“We urge the IOC to take a decision to that effect and go further by ensuring that no athlete is discriminated against on the basis of nationality,” the document reads.
The UN recalled that in 2022, a few days after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the IOC recommended banning Russian and Belarusian athletes and officials such as referees from participating in international competitions. And on January 25, 2023, after discussions with two special rapporteurs, the Executive Committee of the Olympic Committee issued a statement stating that the rights of all athletes under the Olympic Statutes must be respected.
“The IOC recommendation raised serious issues of direct discrimination as athletes should not be discriminated against on the basis of their nationality,” the UN said. Said.
Experts stressed that, despite the desire to support the athletes of a country suffering from war, the Olympic community has an obligation to respect the Olympic Charter and international human rights standards in general.
“When states so blatantly ignore human rights, we have an obligation to raise our voices in support of our shared values,” the experts stressed.
According to them, the same rules should apply to all athletes regardless of their nationality. Therefore, UN experts concluded that any speech in favor of national, racial or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence should be prohibited.
Recall that on January 30, Mikhail Podolyak, adviser to the head of the President’s Office, turned to IOC President Thomas Bach and described the organization as a “war supporter”. According to him, the Olympic Committee is pleased to see how the Russian Federation has destroyed Ukraine, and then offers a platform to advertise the genocide and encourage more murders.
In response, on January 31, the International Olympic Committee rejected criticism from the Ukrainian side, describing such statements as defamatory and unable to serve as a basis for any constructive discussion.
Source: Focus
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