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Rune Anderson, the World Athletics Council task chair, intimated that although Russia and Belarus may have their original 2015 and subsequent doping bans lifted, they will continue to be banned for their illegal incursion into Ukraine.

A vote will be the focus of the three-day virtual World Athletic Council starting March 21.

In November 2022, the council task force suggested that Russia’s doping ban may be lifted by March 2023.

Following the utterance of the potential re-instatement, a cascade of events of have taken place in against Russia and Belarus competing in the 2024 Paris Olympic Games as well as other international events. The voices from various National Sport Organizations (NSOs) are demanding the ban continues. The Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo has publicly said that Russia is not welcome at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has since issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Various NSOs protest

All Ukrainian Olympic sports federations signed a document Thursday, March 9 addressing the International Olympic Committee (IOC). The request is for the IOC to uphold its ban of Russia and Belarus from the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.

In February 2022, European Athletics President, Dobromir Karamarinov, sent a letter of support (see here) to Ukrainian Athletic Federation Acting President, Yevhen Pronin, in support.

Formula One said it would drop its Russian Grand Prix. The event was scheduled to take place in September in the Black Sea resort of Sochi. The 2022 event was indeed cancelled in the wake of the Russian invasion. The contract for all future races was terminated.

Poland, Sweden, and the Czech Republic refused to play World Cup qualifiers in Russia. The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) said national teams competing in UEFA competitions would be played at neutral venues.

Denouncing the incursion

President Sebastian Coe and World Athletics released a statement in February 2022 denouncing the invasion of Ukraine by Russia.

“World Athletics is appalled by developments in Ukraine and condemns the Russian military invasion,” World Athletics wrote in a statement.

Coe offered World Athletics senior vice-president Sergey Bubka, who is Ukrainian, and the Ukrainian Athletics Federation “whatever practical support we can give.”

The Russian Athletics Federation has been suspended since 2015 for systematic doping, corruption, data manipulation, and various other charges.

According to the publication, Inside the Games, the President of the National Olympic Committee of Ukraine and Minister of Youth and Sports in Ukraine Vadym Guttsait wrote, “I call on you once again to support Ukraine’s position on the non-participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes in international competitions, including the Olympic Games Paris 2024, in any status, as soon as this military aggression continues.”

Russian athletes competed during the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games in 2021. There was a delegation of nearly 350 who attended the event. However, the Russian flag and national anthem were never seen or heard. Russian athletes won dozens of medals.

Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo

It was reported here earlier this week that the Paris mayor is against having a Russian delegation in her city during the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, while Russia wages its illegal war in Ukraine.

Anne Hidalgo, the mayor of Paris, France said that she does not want a Russian delegation at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games while the country wages war in Ukraine.

“As long as Russia continues to wage war on Ukraine, I don’t want there to be a Russian delegation at the Paris 2024 Games.

“I would find that indecent.

“It is not possible to parade as if nothing had happened, to have a delegation come to Paris, while the bombs continue to rain down on Ukraine,” she said.

German Canoeing Association

As reported by the publication, Inside the Games, the German Canoe Association (DKV) has called upon the International Olympic Committee (IOC) “to clarify fundamental questions in sport” as it vowed to continue its exclusion of Russian and Belarusian canoeists from international events in Germany.

“We are aware that a reintegration of Russian and Belarusian athletes into the world of sports, as suggested by the IOC, would be extremely difficult,” DKV President Jens Perlwitz said.

“In our opinion, the current trend emanating from the IOC is not in line with the Olympic movement.

“You have to think hard about whether a state that is waging aggressive war is allowed to be part of the Olympic family, whether that state is allowed to host the Olympic Games and whether athletes from that state are allowed to participate in the Games.”

Putin arrest warrant issued over war crime allegations

The ICC issued an arrest warrant for Putin. The ICC alleges that he is responsible for war crimes, and has focused the claims on the unlawful deportation of children from Ukraine to Russia.

The crimes were apparently carried out in Ukraine starting on Feb. 24 2022. Moscow denies the allegations.

The warrant will affect the president’s ability to travel internationally.

Russia’s commissioner for children’s rights, Maria Lvova-Belova, is also wanted for the same crimes.

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