The Executive Board (EB) of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has reiterated the IOC’s strong condemnation of the breach of the Olympic Truce by the Russian government and the government of Belarus through its support in this.
The respective UN resolution was adopted by the UN General Assembly on 2 December 2021 by consensus of all 193 UN Member States. The Olympic Truce began seven days before the start of the Olympic Games, on 4 February 2022, and ends seven days after the closing of the Paralympic Games.
The IOC EB this weekend urged all International Sports Federations to relocate or cancel their sports events currently planned in Russia or Belarus. They should take the breach of the Olympic Truce by the Russian and Belarussian governments into account and give the safety and security of the athletes an absolute priority. The IOC itself has no events planned in Russia or Belarus.
In addition, the IOC EB urges that no Russian or Belarussian national flag be displayed and no Russian or Belarussian anthem be played in international sports events which are not already part of the respective World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) sanctions for Russia.
At the same time, the IOC EB expresses its full support to the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) for the upcoming Paralympic Winter Games Beijing 2022. The IOC EB expresses its deep concerns about the safety of the members of the Olympic Community in Ukraine and stands in full solidarity. It notes that the special IOC task force is in contact with the Olympic Community in the country to coordinate humanitarian assistance where possible.
The IOC EB asks the task force to continue to closely monitor the situation and to keep the IOC EB informed and updated, also with regard to potential amendments of the resolution.
Sport has been turning its back on Russia with the Champions League final relocated from the country, Poland refusing to play a World Cup qualifier against Russia next month, while the Swedish team said they would not partake in any games against Russia. Chelsea FC’s billionaire Russian owner, Roman Abramovich has handed control of his club to its charitable trust, Liberal Democrat MP Layla Moran had earlier in the week named Abramovich as one of Russia’s President Putin’s 35 “key enablers” who should be sanctioned.
Formula One announced on Friday that it was cancelling the Russian Grand Prix, the International Ski Federation announced Russia will not host any World Cup events this winter while the European curling championships will be relocated from its planned Russian event. The International Tennis Federation has cancelled all their events taking place in Russia for the foreseeable future and Schalke removed Gazprom sponsorship from their team shirts in response to the attack on Ukraine.
