Why German Olympic boss is opposing return of Russian, Belarusian athletes

 

BERLIN – The German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB) continues to oppose the return of athletes from Russia and Belarus to international sports events amid the ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

“In view of the unabated warfare we are of the opinion that the exclusion would continue to be justified,” DOSB president Thomas Weikert told Thursday’s edition of the Heilbronner Stimme paper.

“Russia and Belarus should not be given the opportunity to abuse the participation of athletes for war propaganda purposes.”

Russian and Belarusian athletes were banned from most events after the start of the invasion in February 2022 but the International Olympic Committee (IOC) recently recommended to sports federations to re-admit them as neutral athletes and under strict conditions.

Several sports such as cycling have acted accordingly while some others like athletics have not lifted the ban.

Weikert noted the DOSB was “aware that we are currently in a minority in international sport with our position and that any decision by the IOC must take into account the split in global opinion.”

“The conditions imposed by the IOC are strict – for example, that no military personnel should participate. What matters now is the consistent implementation of these criteria,” Weikert added.

The return of athletes does not include next year’s Olympics in Paris. The IOC said it would make a decision on that at a later stage.