Sport as a stage for war
Russia’s decision for Mihambo “completely incomprehensible”
3/30/2023 3:24 p.m
The return of Russian and Belarusian athletes to world sport, aspired by the IOC, continues to cause an uproar. Even long jump Olympic champion Malaika Mihambo has no understanding for this. She fears that warmongering Russia could use sport as a platform for propaganda.
Malaika Mihambo has sharply criticized the IOC recommendation for the return of Russian and Belarusian athletes to international competitions as wrong. “The decision is completely incomprehensible to me because it ultimately shifts the decision and implementation to the level of the individual international sports associations,” said the 29-year-old long jump Olympic champion from the LG Kurpfalz at Sport1.
The International Olympic Committee has combined the recommendation with criteria intended to ensure the neutrality of athletes from these two countries. How these conditions are implemented and whether approval is granted or not is for the world federations to decide according to their rules. Many observers doubt that compliance with the IOC requirements should be checked and ensured in their entirety.
Mihambo also said it was difficult to assess from the outside to what extent athletes were involved in the war against Ukraine, or at least in war propaganda. “Regardless of this, the opportunity is opened up to instrumentalize the sport,” said the two-time world champion and most successful German athlete of the recent past.
“Morally speaking, this is a fiasco and shows how little the Olympic spirit seems to be lived in reality.” Peace, intercultural exchange and fair play are not given priority. “Ultimately, I think we need more values to guide our actions if we want to stick to the principles of Olympia,” she said.
Interior Minister Nancy Faeser, who is responsible for sport in the German government, had also harshly criticized the IOC decision. This was “a slap in the face to the Ukrainian athletes,” said the SPD politician: “International sport must condemn the brutal Russian war of aggression in all clarity. That is only possible with a complete exclusion of Russian and Belarusian athletes.”