DBS chief knocks IOC over return of Russia, Belarus to competitive sports

FRANKFURT – The president of Germany’s parasport federation DBS has said the International Olympic Committee (IOC) decision to open the door for Russian and Belarusian athletes “is a departure from the messages of peace sport is supposed to send out.”

“For me, in view of Russia’s murderous actions, it is a matter of decency and honesty not to open any kind of door of entry,” DBS president Friedhelm Julius Beucher told dpa.

“We have already been lied to by Russia long enough in the matter of doping,” he added in reference to doping practices in Russia which forced its team to compete as neutrals at the last three Olympics.

Athletes from Russia and Belarus have been banned from most sports events after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. But the IOC proposed on Tuesday to re-admit them to international competition, as neutral athletes and under strict conditions. A decision on the Paris 2024 Olympics is to follow at a later stage.

Beucher said decision like that were also “contributing to people turning away from sport more and more … because they say the Infantinos in world sport are ruining sport.”

He was referring to Gianni Infantino, president of the ruling football body FIFA, who has also faced criticism over various issues over the years.

Beucher however added that despite the latest criticism on IOC president Thomas Bach he “would not want to name him in the same breath” as Infantino.

Looking at the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), Beucher said “the complete exclusion of Russian and Belarusian athletes will apply until the next general assembly in September.

“And I am fighting to ensure that this will continue after September,” he added.