Deciphering Russia’s sports ban, is it Israel’s turn?
About 20 months passed after the start of the special military operation of Russia to Ukraine, when the International Olympic Committee (IOC) suspended the national committee of Russia and Belarus on Thursday, October 20 of last year.
Therefore, based on the decision of the International Olympic Committee, these two countries were banned from participating in all Olympic and non-Olympic world competitions. The sanctions include: no international sports events will be held in Russia and Belarus, no flags and anthems or national symbols of Russia and Belarus should be displayed at international sports events, and no government of these two countries will invite to an international sports event. .
They initially barred Russian and Belarusian athletes from participating in sporting events, and after some criticism, this policy was changed to state that Russian athletes could participate in these events but not under the Russian and Belarusian flags.
Then they make a National Olympic Committee flag and athletes from Russia who participate in these international sports events compete under this flag as “neutral” and the medal is registered in their name – not Russia’s. In the next stage, they eliminated the Russian football team from the World Cup.
A few months ago, Thomas Bach, the head of the International Olympic Committee, invited 203 countries to participate in the 2024 Olympic Games, which will be held in Paris from July 26 to August 11. Russia, Belarus and Guatemala were not mentioned among these countries.