Olympic Ring Is Out of Reach

Lukashenka and his son were banned from attending international sports events.

According to the IOC, the Belarusian leadership persecutes and severely discriminates against National Olympic Committee athletes who disagree with Lukashenka's policy line. The International Olympic Committee banned him from attending the Olympic Games and other events held under the patronage of the IOC. IOC President Thomas Bach on issued the statement on December 7.

Bach said the sanctions were imposed due to "discrimination against the Belarusian athletes for political views," revealed by the International Olympic Committee during its investigation. Such an attitude towards athletes "damages the reputation of the entire Olympic movement," stated Bach. He believes the actions of the current leadership of the Belarusian NOC violate the principles of the Olympic Charter.

The repression of the Belarusian athletes has triggered the IOC's investigation in Belarus. For example, this August, nearly fifteen hundred Belarusian athletes signed an open letter demanding to stop violence in the country. Shortly after that, many of them faced serious problems. World champion (track and field) Maryna Arzamasava was fired from the sports committee of the Armed Forces of Belarus. World freestyle champion Aliaksandra Ramanouskaya, runner Sviatlana Kudelich, and director of the Olympic freestyle training centre Vadzim Krivosheev met the same fate for refusing to revoke their signatures under an open letter. He was fired "for poor ideological work in the team".

Some athletes were even more unlucky. World-famous basketball player Yelena Leuchanka and allround athlete Andrei Krauchenka were even subject to administrative arrest for their political position.

What will happen? It is reported the ban on attending all IOC sports events will affect Lukashenka, his eldest son Viktar, first vice-president of the NOC, and a member of the NOC executive committee Dmitry Baskov, chairman of the Belarus Ice Hockey Federation, a suspect of the death of Raman Bandarenka, who was killed on Peremeny Square.

Also, the list of sanctions includes a freeze on all payments to the NOC of Belarus, except for the funds that will be used to train athletes for the Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2021 and the Winter Olympics 2022. As for the sports education programmes, according to Bach, the IOC intends to fund them directly, bypassing the National Olympic Committee.

Belarus was to host the world ice hockey championship in 2021. However, the head of the IOC noted any discussion of the upcoming sports event with the NOC of Belarus had to be suspended until further notice.

The IOC also demanded to allow Belarusian athletes to compete regardless of their political views and allowed the dismissed athletes to take part in qualification for the Tokyo Olympics. It means the Olympic sanctions do not affect the athletes in any way.

By the way, the participation of the Belarusian athletes under a neutral flag is still questionable.

Olga Ivashenko, Novaya Gazeta