By paving the way for a return of Russian and Belarusian athletes under a neutral banner at the Paris 2024 Games, has the International Olympic Committee (IOC) brought the wolf into the fold? In its statement of January 25, the body based in Lausanne (Switzerland) matches its proposal for “strict conditions” : individuals – national teams remain excluded from the Games – “must in no case represent either their State or any other organization of their country” and only would be authorized to compete the sportsmen who “will not have been against the peace mission of the IOC by actively supporting the war in Ukraine”.
Conditions that the IOC recalled on Tuesday, January 31, in response to the president of the Russian Olympic committee, Stanislav Pozdniakov, who had declared earlier in the day that he wanted to lift all sanctions and restrictions. But according to the specialists of the Olympic movement, the question of neutrality is totally illusory. “Whether the athletes compete under a neutral banner or not, Vladimir Putin receives them at the Kremlin and puts himself on stage with them”quips Patrick Clastres, professor at the University of Lausanne.
The specialist in the history and geopolitics of sport adds, in support of his remarks, the example of the player Aryna Sabalenka, who had recognized “everyone knows that I am Belarusian”, after his victory on January 28 at the Australian Open – tennis is one of the few federations that allow Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete under a neutral banner.
“There is no need for an anthem and a flag. By the way, Lukashenko [le président au pouvoir à Minsk] hastened to salute his coronation, continues Patrick Clastres. It’s good that there is a political use of the victories of athletes, including under a neutral banner. »
“Bubble of Patriotism”
In Russia, perhaps more than elsewhere, there are close links between sport and the Kremlin. It is not uncommon to see in the gymnasiums of the Federation, from Saint Petersburg to Vladivostok, symbols of United Russia, the political party in the service of Vladimir Putin.
Even more so in high-level structures, argues Lukas Aubin, researcher at the Institute for International and Strategic Relations (IRIS): “Russian athletes are put in a bubble of patriotism from an early age”. “It therefore becomes difficult to imagine that there will be no political demonstration by these athletes”even under a neutral banner, explains the doctor of Slavic studies.
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