Yesterday, the International Olympic Committee made recommendations to sports federations to allow Russian and Belarusian athletes to participate in international competitions with a number of conditions. It is on the individual federations to make specific decisions regarding which recommendations to adopt and how to ensure they’re followed. Among other things, the IOC recommended allowing only individual athletes and not teams, which means the Russian MAG and WAG teams are unlikely to compete in Paris. They have actually already missed the deadline that would allow them to qualify as a team to the Olympics because the IOC’s decision came after the registration for the European Championships has ended. This also was one of the main opportunities for individuals to qualify to the World Championships. However, Russia is currently pursuing an option to switch to the Asian Federation and compete at the Asian Championships in June.
No matter whether the Asian Championships path pans out for Russia, other criteria set by the IOC might effectively disqualify a large number of the national team gymnasts. First, athletes who are actively support the war are supposed to be ineligible and in other statements, the IOC clarified that wearing the Z symbol or posting it on social media could be considered active support of the war. Besides the infamous case of Ivan Kuliak, multiple Russian gymnasts appeared at public events with the Z symbol or posted it on social media. Vladislava Urazova and Viktoria Listunova have even been officially sanctioned by Ukraine for appearing at a pro-war rally with the Z symbol on their chest. There were even cases of material support for the war, for example, the Tokyo MAG team reportedly donated a drone to Russian soldiers. Nikita Nagorny, the head of the Young Army, has promoted multiple donation drives for the army.
Another criteria which can potentially make multiple athletes ineligible is “Athletes who are contracted to the Russian or Belarusian military or national security agencies cannot compete. Support personnel who are contracted to the Russian or Belarusian military or national security agencies cannot be entered”. Per the current interpretation, it includes not only athletes who are serving in the army or law enforcement but also those who compete for CSKA and Dynamo sports clubs. CSKA Club is affiliated with the military and Dynamo Club is affiliated with the law enforcement, so athletes who compete for these clubs are directly funded by military or law enforcement even when they do not have any rank. This would include gymnasts like Angelina Melnikova (CSKA), Anastasia Ilyankova (Dynamo), Yana Vorona (Dynamo), Diana Kustova (Dynamo) and so on.
It is unclear if leaving the club or ending a contract with the army would make athletes eligible, although some in Russia are considering this option. The head of the Russian Biathlon federation said that if being funded by Dynamo and CSKA will be the only obstacle for participation in international competitions, biathletes will quit their clubs. This will no doubt be a very controversial decision, though, one that many in Russia will consider unpatriotic.
Fro example, Artur Dalaloyan, a member of Dynamo and a National Guard soldier, said he would not consider leaving the club to compete internationally:
“Overall, they didn’t say anything promising at the [IOC’s] executive committee, of course. I’ve represented Dynamo since I was a child. And, of course, the club is closely working with law enforcement. At some point in my life, the law enforcement helped me to stay active [in gymnastics]. Every man in our country has to serve in the army, we’re all connected to the [military or] law enforcement in some way. Athletes, though, also have contracts with those organizations. There are sports teams within these organizations that help the athletes during the most important and demanding period of life. This allows athletes to continue doing their job while serving in the army. So that athletes would be comfortable while reaching for the heights and achieving their goals. It’s important. So, these recommendations are nothing but an attempt to disrupt, to split our system developed over the years. I don’t even know how to put it politely. Of course, I’m only unhappy with what’s happening.
Dalaloyan doesn’t believe any athletes will leave their clubs at the promise of international competitions: “In fact, I believe that no one will cave in to these recommendations. We all have values. yes, my club Dynamo represents law enforcement. The whole team around me is valuable and important to me. It has been built over the years. I value representing Dynamo and the law enforcement agencies. I am grateful that they helped me continue training. And I will not agree to leave my beloved club, which I have represented all my life, because of some recommendations. I hope that most athletes will not follow these recommendations. I’m sure our Olympic Committee and the Ministry of Sports will challenge them and will do some work so that these conditions change somehow. All my life, I thought that sports unite people at the Olympic Games and international competitions. All that unites us is sports. And sports unite me and my club and the law enforcement as well. All this contributes to our wonderful country getting stronger and more prosperous, while all the IOC’s recommendations do is to bring discord and break this system. But I hope and I’m sure that no one will manage to do it [to break the system].”
In his earlier statements this week, Dalaloyan also demonstrated a somewhat surprising lack of awareness regarding why his relationships with Ukrainian athletes deteriorated after the start of the war:
“There’s no negativity towards us from [foreign] athletes, except for Ukrainian athletes who really got an issue with us even though we’ve been pals, friends at competitions all these years. We’ve had the best relationships with them [out of all foreign athletes] and now they turned against us, they are making us some sort of… I have many friends among athletes in other countries and not one of them said a bad word. I competed in Italy after the start of SMO [“Special Military Operation” – Russian euphemism for the war in Ukraine] and no one said anything bad to me, many even supported me.”
OK……BYYYYYYYYYE