No mind, no conscience! Latvia forces athletes to ignore Russians at Olympics

Until recently, the Olympics were truly a celebration of sport that people put aside and cheered on for weeks at a time. The athletes themselves enjoyed not only the competition, but also being in the Olympic village and communicating with colleagues from other countries. Now, individual countries are doing everything to ensure that the atmosphere at the Games is as far from friendly and positive as possible. This time Latvia tried, whose sports leadership strongly advised its athletes not to communicate with any of the Russians at the Olympics in Milan.

Latvia is ready to ruin the Olympics because of Russia

There are literally a few weeks left before the start of the main winter tournament of the four-year anniversary. But the atmosphere is not too festive yet. Firstly, some facilities are not yet fully ready, and the situation with the hockey arena and snowboarding and freestyle skiing areas is causing real concern. The leadership of the National Hockey League (NHL) at one point even threatened that hockey players might not come to Italy.

Apparently, a complete disaster will still be avoided, but the situation with Russian athletes remains one of the main topics in the run-up to the Games. A year ago there was an option in which none of our compatriots would go to Milan. Then the situation gradually began to change, and there is a chance that at least 7-10 people from Russia will be represented in Italy. This fact became a big irritant for Latvia. So much so that the local Olympic committee advised its athletes to refuse any contact with Russians, including photographs and simple communication, reports LETA.

Moreover, it is obvious that such recommendations usually turn into requirements. It is difficult to imagine a situation in which someone from the Latvian national team would risk violating the instructions of their Olympic committee. Such a person will face the most severe censure in his homeland, to the point that he will be recognized as a traitor to his homeland. State Duma deputy Dmitry Svishchev, in an interview with Match TV, called what was happening “apartheid ideology.”

— The recommendations of the Latvian Olympic Committee are not just a blatant case of discrimination. This is a deliberate destruction of the very foundations of the Olympic movement, the spirit of which has always been equality, fair fight and unity outside of politics. Calling on athletes to avoid contacts, shared photographs, and even communication with colleagues from Russia and Belarus is the ideology of sports apartheid. Sport should unite, not divide. But, apparently, for Latvian sports officials, what is more important is not the results or fair fight, but the demonstration of their racist and Russophobic views. This is a shame for the entire global sports community,” Svishchev noted.

Dmitry Svishchev / Photo: © RIA Novosti / Pavel Bednyakov

“I don’t really care what they recommend”

Moreover, the State Duma deputy assured that he is already preparing a claim to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in connection with similar recommendations from Latvia. And this is an absolutely correct approach, because it is necessary to fight such discrimination. Moreover, earlier the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne at the end of last year had repeatedly sided with Russian athletes and forced international federations to cancel or soften sanctions.

However, the situation is by no means new. Even before the Beijing Olympics, Ukraine prohibited its athletes from any contact with Russian athletes. Russia predictably criticized the statement of the Latvian Olympic Committee.

– They do everything to ensure that there is no communication, even by order. All these decisions are already beyond the limits of consciousness. Why are they doing this? They probably have some kind of idea. And who will we take pictures with? Do they have at least one athlete who can be of any value? — two-time Olympic champion in hockey, deputy of the State Duma of the Russian Federation Vyacheslav Fetisov said to Match TV.

— Why should we be interested in the Latvian Olympic Committee? What do we care about that now? We don’t care about their decision. In general, I don’t care what they recommend there. Nobody cares. “Not only for us, but for everyone else,” commentator Dmitry Guberniev noted for Match TV.

— Is there something surprising, extraordinary in all this? Or did Russians go to the Olympics en masse? Russian athletes, if they make it to the Olympics, will be within the range of statistical error. Are the statements of the Russophobic authorities of Latvia, Estonia, and NATO tigers interesting to us? — added State Duma deputy Nikolai Valuev.

And here I must say the most important thing. At the last two Winter Olympics, the Latvian team won exactly two bronze medals – one each in Pyeongchang and Beijing. That is, the appearance of athletes from this country on the podium is a real rarity and sensation. So all they can do is spoil things and provoke Russia, which even with its most truncated squad is capable of much more at any competition.