Double standards by the IOC have already become commonplace, especially in the last years of the leadership of Thomas Bach. With the arrival of Kirsty Coventry, the situation seems to have begun to change, but there is still a long way to go until adequacy is fully restored.

The conflict between the United States and Venezuela forced the International Olympic Committee to at least somehow react to what was happening, especially in the context of the suspension of Russian athletes. The IOC was silent for a long time, but then they finally made a statement. The most hypocritical thing in its history.

The IOC did not immediately react. Why?

What happened in Venezuela in early January shocked the whole world and remains the main political topic of the year. The American military attacked Caracas and captured the country’s president, Nicolas Maduro, and his wife. They were caught in bed and taken to New York, where they are in prison awaiting trial. Such a resonant situation requires an immediate response from international organizations, including sports structures. But they either remained silent or made absurd excuses. No one has ever explained why Russian athletes have been in unprecedented isolation for almost four years, and none of the officials even mentions any sanctions against the Americans.

If our athletes were instantly suspended from all international competitions, then everything turned out differently here. The IOC responded more quickly to the International Ski Federation (FIS) and the International Skating Union (ISU).

FIS communications director Bruno Sassi said in an interview with Expressen that sanctions against American skiers could be considered if there was a global reaction condemning the US actions. But, according to Sassi, if it was, it was not as powerful as in the situation with Russia. In turn, the ISU press service, in a conversation with VseProSport, noted that it is not going to introduce any sanctions or even recommendations against American athletes after the military operation in Caracas.

Kirsty Coventry / Photo: © Anadolu / Contributor / Anadolu / Gettyimages.ru

It would be better to remain silent

But in terms of hypocrisy, of course, the IOC surpassed everyone. There they waited for a moment and only 10 days later they were honored to explain why there would not and could not be any removal of the Americans. Among other things, I was struck by this paragraph in the statement:

“As a global organization, the IOC must manage a complex reality. At each Olympic Games, the IOC must take into account the current political context and recent events in the world. We have always dealt with this successfully. For this reason, the IOC cannot directly intervene in political issues or conflicts between countries, as this is beyond our competence. This is the realm of politics. Our role is to ensure that athletes have the opportunity to participate in the Olympic Games, regardless of their origin,” the IOC press service is quoted by Match TV.

Such statements anger and touch at the same time. The IOC openly exposes itself to ridicule by saying that it has never interfered in conflicts between countries and did not take decisions based on this. There’s not even anything to comment on here, it’s all so stupid and ridiculous. There is no doubt that the International Olympic Committee is well aware of the absurdity of such statements, but going against the United States is much worse for them than making the whole world laugh at the Olympic movement.

Later, the IOC explained to RIA Novosti that the sanctions against the ROC were due to the fact that the Olympic Councils of the DPR, LPR, as well as the Kherson and Zaporozhye regions were included in its composition. But the attempt to make excuses and save face only emphasized the incompetence of officials and their reluctance to understand the situation.

The fact is that sanctions against the ROC were introduced on October 5, 2023, and the removal of Russia happened a year and a half before that. Based on the logic of the International Olympic Committee, Russia’s excommunication from world sports was illegal! It would seem that it’s time to correct the monstrous injustice and return Russians to international competitions… But such a development is hard to believe: it is much easier to continue the policy of double standards and throw in ridiculous excuses from time to time.