Interesting events are taking place in the world of sports in recent weeks. The West has dramatically changed its rhetoric regarding our athletes, and now the words have already begun to be backed up by deeds. Russian and Belarusian boxers were officially restored in the World Boxing Association (WBA) rating.

There is reason to believe that this is not a one-time action. Has the gradual return of Russia to international sports begun?

It all started with the Americans and Macron

Last week, the executive committee of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) took place in Lausanne, Switzerland, where one of the main issues was the status of Russian and Belarusian athletes. The head of the IOC, Thomas Bach, despite the fact that he recommended once again to extend the suspension of Russia and Belarus, made a number of very interesting statements. The most important of them, of course, was the disclosure of the details of the conversation with French President Emmanuel Macron.

Macron, according to Bach, called for absolutely all countries to participate in the next Olympics in Paris in 2024, despite the political situation. The hint at Russia is simply obvious here. Such statements by Macron, of course, became sensational, because no other world leader had previously spoken in such a vein. Macron is not Bach, with all due respect to the head of the IOC. And it is unlikely that he would begin to scatter such words just like that, without putting a special meaning into it.

Emmanuel Macron / Photo: © John Berry / Contributor / Getty Images Sport / Gettyimages.ru

Only a few days passed, after which the head of the US Olympic Committee, Suzanne Lyons, made an even more unexpected statement. It was hardly possible to expect help from America, but nevertheless it came from there.

– The non-admission of the Russians throws us back. The United States supports the return of athletes who have trained for this all their lives to international competition, but we are opposed to them returning under the national flag. Lately, we’ve been wondering how relevant defensive measures are for Russia. And they came to the conclusion that the issue of security is no longer so acute, – Lyons quotes The Wall Street Journal.

Good news from boxing

And then a couple of days later came the news from the World Boxing Association. There, obviously, they heard hints from the President of France and the head of the US Olympic Committee and restored Russian and Belarusian athletes in the rating in the organization.

Athletes from these countries are not soldiers or part of the government, so it can be concluded that they have nothing to do with the ongoing conflict. For the sake of sport and for the benefit of their careers, they will be reinstated in the rankings and will compete for WBA titles, the WBA said in a statement.

Back in March, the World Boxing Association excluded Russian and Belarusian fighters from the rating lists, although the reigning world champions or individual regions retained their status. That is, the gate in the box was not completely closed. This, in particular, allowed our Dmitry Bivol to defend the world title, and later the Russian was even recognized as the best boxer of 2022.

In any case, the trend towards Russia’s return to the world sports family has been set. Apparently, the West began to understand that the non-participation of our athletes in international competitions does more harm than good. If earlier they were forced to work out the political agenda, now this issue is no longer so acute. Hence the sensational, at first glance, the words of Macron and the President of the US Olympic Committee. And now the positive news in boxing. It is quite possible that this is the same thaw in relations between Russia and the West, which came even earlier than one might have imagined.