The International Olympic Committee (IOC) vehemently rejected criticism from Ukrainian officials Monday after being accused of promoting the war in Russia following the committee’s decision to consider ways for Russians to compete at the 2024 Olympics.
Ukraine presidential aide Mykhailo Podolyak sent out a strongly-worded Tweet Monday, accusing the IOC’s consideration of allowing Russia to compete at Paris 2024 as promoting “war, murder and destruction.”
#IOC is a promoter of war, murder & destruction. The IOC watches with pleasure RF destroying 🇺🇦 & then offers 🇷🇺 a platform to promote genocide & encourages their further killings.
Obviously ru-money that buys Olympic hypocrisy doesn’t have a smell of 🇺🇦 blood. Right, Mr. #Bach?— Михайло Подоляк (@Podolyak_M) January 30, 2023
The IOC responded with the following statement, courtesy of CNN:
“The IOC rejects in the strongest possible terms this and other defamatory statements. They cannot serve as a basis for any constructive discussion. Therefore, the IOC will not further comment on them.”
During his nightly address on Saturday, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said he “wrote a letter to the presidents of the International Sports Federations with a call to reconsider the decision of the International Olympic Committee to return Russian athletes to international competitions.”
According to Zelensky, once “Russian athletes appear at international competitions, it is only a matter of time before they start justifying Russia’s aggression and using the symbols of terror.”
The IOC has indicated that it’s open to Russian and Belarusian athletes competing at Paris 2024 as neutrals under the Olympic flag.
Recently, the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) invited Russian and Belarusian athletes to participate in this year’s Asian Games as a way for them to qualify for the Olympics.
The IOC said it “welcomed and appreciated the offer from the Olympic Council of Asia to give these (Russian and Belarusian) athletes access to Asian competitions,” adding that each sport federation was the “sole authority for its international competitions.”
The Ukrainian leadership has been able to fight the Russians and inflict on them devastating & catastrophic strategic losses on the battlefield. With the capture of Kherson the Ukrainians dealt the Russians biggest blow and setback as this was the first greatest strategic loss for Putin and the Russian military. The battle of Bakhmut is the second greatest defeat of the Russian army and at this it does not matter (strategically) to keep defending Bakhmut by the Ukrainians as they had been able to inflict massive casualties on the Wagner militia and the Russian armed forces. These groups can take over the remainder of the city, but the Ukrainians have strategically won this battle too. The Ukrainians have killed tens of… Read more »
Good for the IOC. Let them swim.
As this war goes on, the real motivations of both sides are being learned by the world community and they don’t reflect well on NATO members. The IOC realizes this.
Play their anthem and raise their flags too. The best swimmers should all be racing together so it can actually be an Olympics, not an asterisk.
How’s the weather in Moscow?
You don’t know what you are talking about, mate. Total isolation is the only way to make Russia stop ruining our country. They have enough people to make war for years, so we need to cut off all their connections with the rest of the world. First of all, their ability to earn money and buy things they need to create more missiles. But other connections – cultural, athletic etc – are also very important. Once you allow russians to compete together with civilized nations, you are on the path of gradual justification of what they do to us. And you can be sure, the day Ukraine falls, some other European country will become the next target.
In 2014, Pro-Russia Ukrainians in the Donbas weren’t killing Ukrainians for being Ukrainian. Nobody was killing Ukrainians for staying in Ukraine.
In the beginning, the only Ukrainians being killed were the ones that wanted to leave Ukraine.
Ukraine, with the help of America’s Maidan uprising (coup), started this war. A Russian puppet was replaced by an american puppet then the killing kicked off in the Donbas.
The IOC is correct. You are wrong. Also it’s dude, not mate. Welcome to America.
Ah, that’s why you don’t know about America. Let me introduce you to my country so you understand how this has been provoked for decades:
The key text in the minutes from the meeting quotes US Assistant Secretary of State for Europe and Canada Raymond Seitz saying: “We made it clear to the Soviet Union, in the 2+4 talks, as well as in other negotiations that we do not intend to benefit from the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Eastern Europe,”
“NATO should not expand to the east, either officially or unofficially.”
A British representative also mentions the existence of a “general agreement” that membership of NATO for eastern European countries is “unacceptable.”
West German diplomat Juergen Hrobog said… Read more »
“As this war goes on, the real motivations of both sides are being learned by the world community and they don’t reflect well on NATO members.”
This is the equivalent of the confederate flag flying morons who go off about how the Civil war was about “states right”, of course obfuscating that it was about the states rights to have slavery.
Russian unilaterally invaded Ukraine after having previously annexed Crimea when the Ukrainian state was in crisis and unable to respond, and having supported an insurgency in the Donbass. Russia had also invaded Georgia previously to and too this day Russian soilders occupy Georgian territory. Russia took little effort to hide that they had their eyes set on Moldova had… Read more »
Minha opinião é injusto impedir os atletas russo e belorusso de competirem em Paris , nem todos são culpados pela violência dos seus governantes não. , Essa guerra já devia acabar mais acho q muito paísesnao querem isso
The IOC is morally bankrupt.
World Aquatics is just as bad with Captain Corruption at the helm.
The IOC is on the right side of morality, historically speaking:
In 2014, Pro-Russia Ukrainians in the Donbas weren’t killing Ukrainians for being Ukrainian. Nobody was killing Ukrainians for staying in Ukraine.
In the beginning, the only Ukrainians being killed were the ones that wanted to leave Ukraine.
You tripping. Have you ever been to Ukraine?
I don’t know what the right answer to the subject matter is. But purely in relation to the IOC response it’s a total cop out. “I’m offended and not even going to dignify the allegations with a response” is the classic response of the party who knows they’re wrong.
Remove meets from Russia & Belerus from the designated Olympic qualifying meets, keep them out of worlds. Just because the IOC is opening a pathway for Russia & Belerus doesn’t mean World Aquatics has to roll over.
I mean. I don’t think World Aquatics had any intention of excluding Russia and Belarus until Putin forced them to by having Rylov on stage at a pro-war rally.
I’m not sure why I would expect this to be the moment that they suddenly bucked up.
World Aquatics has no guts. They won’t make a stand on Russia/Belarus. They can’t even take action against cheats and moral corruption in their own circles.
The hypocrisy here is gobsmacking, rich and dripping with irony. Should we ban America for killing 20 – 30 million post WWII (mostly civilians), in:
“Wars”
… Read more »
Korea
Vietnam (based on lies)
Iraq 1
Iraq 2 (based on lies)
Afghanistan
Others killed by american “interventions” (terrorism for profit) via bomb attacks, sabotage, attempted regime change
China, 45–46
Syria, 49
China, 50–53
Iran, 53
Guatemala, 54
Tibet, 55–70’s
Indonesia, 58
Cuba, 59
DP Congo, 60–65
Dominican R, 61
Brazil, 64
Guiana, 64
Guatemala, 64
Laos, 64–73
Dominican R, 65-66
Indonesia, 65
Peru, 65
Your logic here is based on two wrongs making a right. Russia should not get immunity for what they are doing in Ukraine right now due to prior controversies involving the US.
Another pathetic comment. We are living in 2023 right now. It’s not the 60s. People have access to information. The truth is spread around the world in seconds. People can actually help each other no matter where they are from. 50 years ago you couldn’t even be sure of what’s really happening in other parts of the world because you knew only what they say on the TV. Yes, russia is not the only a**hole that ever been on the world map. Yes, other countries used to commit crimes too. But come on, invading independent state in 2022 is too much to tolerate.
Why are you making this into a competition of who has killed the most and how can you use such a morbid comparison to help morally justify Russia’s ongoing actions in Ukraine? To play devil’s advocate on your whole argument, is to say for instance that the US was free to invade Afghanistan as the Russians had already done it first a couple of decades earlier.
You’d have a point if Russia (or any country) were as bad as America
So basically they’re pretending to be offended and ignore the substance.
?
In 2014, Pro-Russia Ukrainians in the Donbas weren’t killing Ukrainians for being Ukrainian. Nobody was killing Ukrainians for staying in Ukraine.
In the beginning, the only Ukrainians being killed were the ones that wanted to leave Ukraine.
Berkoff / Rouse / Carey = 🤡
IOC’s relations with Russia are based on $$$ not morality. Much like FINA’s relations with China.
While I don’t doubt this, profiting is both ways:
America blew up both Nordstream pipelines, disrupting Europe’s energy supply, to sell ITS natural gas to Europe (goal #1 accomplished)
and we will continue donating Billions so MIC companies and its top shareholders can get rich (no, workers wages for MIC companies will not increase with earnings growth) goal #2