The next president of the International Olympic Committee said she would not categorically ban countries from the games over international conflicts, opening the door for Russia to return to the international sports competition.
“I think you have to take each situation into account,” Kirsty Coventry told Sky News in an interview posted Friday. “What I would like to do is set up a taskforce where this taskforce tries to set out some policies and some guiding frameworks that we as the movement can use to make decisions when we are brought into conflicts.”
Coventry, who will be the committee’s first female president, said she felt hypocritical banning countries over international conflicts when countries in Africa — the continent from which she hails — are facing similar tensions.
The Olympic committee banned the Russian team from competing in the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics amid the continued onslaught against Ukraine. (The Russian national team had been suspended from previous international competitions due to a doping scandal.)
Russian athletes were allowed to compete in the games as “individual neutral athletes.” This meant the athletes represented themselves in the games and could not invoke Russian nationalistic symbols like the flag or anthem or participate in some ceremonies.
Russia has also been shut out of other international sports conferences, like the International Ice Hockey Federation, since they invaded Ukraine in February 2022. These moves have blocked key opportunities for Moscow to highlight its athletic prowess and boost national pride.
It’s unclear if this means Russia will be back for the 2028 Summer Olympic games in Los Angeles.
“We’re going to have that discussion with a collective group … with the taskforce,” Coventry told Sky News.
Now, Russian President Vladimir Putin is lobbying for his country’s return to the international sports stage. Earlier this week, President Donald Trump and Putin mulled over a U.S.-Russia hockey competition to mend diplomatic ties during an hours-long phone call, according to a Kremlin statement.
Trump, the Russia readout said, was apparently supportive of the idea.
Russia could return to the international sports scene, incoming Olympics president says
Source: Viral Showbiz Pinay
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