IOC Faces Backlash Over Readmission Of Russian Athletes

Paris, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 31st Mar, 2023 ) :Ukrainian athletes' human rights have "not been addressed" by IOC president Thomas Bach and a UN expert in weighing Russia and Belarus's readmission into global sports events, a leading authority on human rights says.

Patricia Wiater said "unfortunately" neither the International Olympic Committee (IOC) nor UN special rapporteur in cultural rights Alexandra Xanthaki had addressed protecting the rights of Ukraine's athletes.

Wiater was behind the German Olympic Sports Confederation's legal opinion justifying the ban on Russian and Belarusian athletes from international competition.

She spoke to reporters -- alongside Ukrainian and non-Ukrainian athletes -- following the IOC's recommendation on Tuesday to allow athletes from Russia and Moscow ally Belarus to compete as individual neutrals in upcoming international competitions.

They have been largely banned since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February last year.

"The question is, are the proposed conditions of readmission enough to guarantee the human rights of Ukrainian athletes are being respected," Wiater said during the press conference via zoom.

"Are they proportionate and are they adequate to prevent (that) sporting events are abused for war propaganda," added the professor for Public International Law and Human Rights.

"Unfortunately, it was not addressed in the statement by the IOC nor by the special rapporteur but it is very important when we look at the question of readmission.

" Ukrainian tennis player Lesia Tsurenko -- who pulled out of a match against Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka earlier this month due to a panic attack -- believes she and her compatriots feel they have been forgotten about.

Her remarks echo those of Poland's world number one Iga Swiatek, who has criticised the WTA for not doing enough to support Ukrainian players.

"Why is no one thinking about the discrimination of Ukrainians," said Tsurenko.

"We only hear of discrimination of Russians. What about the Ukrainians?" Although the IOC has yet to decide whether Russians and Belarusians can compete at the 2024 Paris Olympics, their re-entry to international competition will allow them to qualify for the quadrennial sporting showpiece.

The fencing federation this month pre-empted the IOC recommendation by reopening its events to athletes from the two countries.

The decision prompted a hard-hitting letter by more than 300 past and present fencers accusing Bach -- himself an Olympic gold medal winning fencer -- and interim fencing federation president Emmanuel Katsiadakis of prioritising Russians over Ukrainians.

"Here, we are talking about life and not just about competing," German fencer Lea Kruger told the same press conference, dismissing the conditions given by the IOC for the Russians' return as "not enough".