Sport Is The Continuation Of Diplomacy By Other Means

Authored by René Zittlau via VoiceFromRussia.ch,

How the goals of Olympism are being undermined by Western politics – an analysis with a look back at the roots of the Olympic idea.

International Olympic Committee established on 23rd June 1894, Paris, France
http://Image Source: Olympics.com

Introduction

“The aim of Olympism is to place sport at the service of the harmonious development of humanity in order to promote a peaceful society committed to the preservation of human dignity.

…

Any form of discrimination against a country or a person on the grounds of race, religion, politics, gender or any other reason is incompatible with membership of the Olympic Movement.”

OLYMPIC CHARTA

Anyone who takes a closer look at the history of international sport will agree with the statement in the title of this article.

There are countless incidents from the history of sport that support this thesis, and not just in terms of big politics. It was precisely the small, at first glance inconspicuous examples that shaped the character of non-political, international sports events. According to the founder of the modern Olympic movement, Baron Pierre de Coubertin, this was its most noble purpose.

In 1891 he said:

“I wanted to renew not so much the form as the principle of the more than thousand-year-old institution, because I had recognized something in it that was essential for the education of my own country and humanity. I therefore had to restore the most important pillars that had once sustained it: spirit and morality.”

BARON PIERRE DE COUBERTIN

He became even clearer a few years later, when he said in 1895:

“For this reason, every four years, the revived Olympic Games should give the youth of the world the opportunity for a happy and fraternal meeting, in which the ignorance that characterizes the ideas of different peoples about each other will gradually disappear, this ignorance that keeps feelings of hatred alive, accumulates misunderstandings and often makes events rush towards a barbaric and merciless struggle.”

BARON PIERRE DE COUBERTIN

“[Asking peoples] to respect each other is not a utopia; but to respect each other, you first have to know each other.”

SOURCE OF QUOTATIONS: “OLYMPISCHE SPIELE”, SPORTVERLAG BERLIN 1975, P. 196, 197

It is worth summarizing Coubertin’s statements once again in other words:

The founder of the modern Olympic movement sees its purpose in the fact that the youth of the world meet regularly for fair sporting competition. The primary goal should not be competition, but getting to know each other. He was firmly convinced that this would reduce feelings of hatred and ignorance and prevent wars.

This look back at the childhood of today’s sports movement is necessary in order to recognize the frightening discrepancy between today and the founding myth of Olympism.

The current sports policy elite, i.e. the IOC and the other international sports federations, explicitly refer to Baron Pierre de Coubertin and the other founding fathers of the modern sports movement in their statutes and documents. Accordingly, the yardstick of their actions must also be measured against their noble goals.

The state of the Olympic movement as a mirror of world politics

The original idea of international sport was therefore to create the conditions for getting to know each other in order to develop “spirit and morality”. One could also say: sport as a means of diplomacy – i.e. politics – to promote good neighborly relations.

It is therefore also possible to draw conclusions about the state of diplomacy and the state of the world from the behavior of the IOC, FIFA and the many other international sports federations.

Even a superficial examination of the current situation opens up a view into abysses that the lessons of history seemed to have long since overcome.

However, the strength of diplomacy in a world still fresh in the memory of devastating wars in an era of human history that now seems eons away had these abysses “under control” and only allowed small swings.

Anyone who has learned in the course of their life to give the title of this article a positive connotation and digs a little deeper into today’s sporting world, which by definition is completely apolitical, will be shocked when they see the realities. Unfortunately, current sports policy decisions prove that these dark thoughts have never completely disappeared and are once again celebrating a sad resurrection.

This gives rise to questions such as these:
What is wrong with this world?
How could this happen?
Will the Olympics in Paris in 2024 outstrip those in Berlin in 1936?

In Berlin in 1936, the participants saluted the German leader with the German salute in accordance with the IOC statutes. A gesture of submission with symbolic significance.

Einmarsch der Mannschaften: Hier zieht das Olympiateam von Mexiko in das Stadion ein. Laut IOC-Satzung mussten alle Teilnehmer vor Hitlers Ehrenloge grüßen. Nicht nur die Zuschauer, auch die Teilnehmer waren von der Atmosphäre im Stadion beeindruckt. “Ohne Unterbrechung tobte und schrie und jubelte uns eine Menschenmasse von über 100.000 zu”, schrieb Fritz Roller, der Betreuer der österreichischen Boxer, an seine Frau. “Der Atem blieb uns aus, so gerührt waren wir alle.” Quelle: SpiegelThe teams march into the stadium: Here the Mexico Olympic team enters the stadium. According to IOC statutes, all participants had to salute in front of Hitler’s box of honor. Not only the spectators, but also the participants were impressed by the atmosphere in the stadium. “Without interruption, a crowd of over 100,000 roared and shouted and cheered for us,” wrote Fritz Roller, the Austrian boxers’ coach, to his wife. “We were left breathless, we were all so moved.” Source: Spiegel

Paris – Olympia 2024

What is the threat in Paris? A “French salute” is not in sight. However, this does not mean that gestures of submission will not be demanded. They will be demanded. In a way that makes a mockery of the idea of peaceful, non-political sporting competition even before the Olympic Games begin. Some will be humiliated. Others will be abused with the support for this humiliation that is sold and demanded as a matter of course … and thus also humiliated.

So that there is not even a hint of doubt about the attitude of official France towards Russian athletes – and everything currently revolves around this axis in terms of sports policy – the Mayor of Paris has already announced in advance that she hopes that Russian athletes will not be allowed to take part in the Olympic Games in Paris, even under a neutral flag. She also left no doubt that they would not be welcome at the opening ceremony on July 26.

Statements and participation rules of this kind unfortunately do bring back memories of the 1936 Olympics in Berlin.

Ban on participation for political reasons

After the start of hostilities in Ukraine, the so-called Collective West unleashed a barrage of sanctions against Russia within just a few days. This incidentally showed the whole world where the dependence of practically all international organizations and institutions on the same seven Western states always leads in times of crisis.

The IOC also followed the call of Western politics and their money and initially banned Russian and Belarusian athletes from taking part in the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. In the course of 2023, it modified its ban to allow individual athletes from Russia and Belarus to take part in the Games under certain conditions. There was clearly a major dispute in the “Olympic family” over this issue.

Just how deep the rifts have become in international sport is only apparent at second glance. This was the headline in Der Spiegel on 21.02.2023:

“How the IOC is isolating itself on the Russia issue

In Russia and Belarus, sport and politics are closely intertwined: 35 nations are resisting plans by IOC President Thomas Bach to allow Russian athletes to take part in the Olympic Games in Paris.”

SOURCE: SPIEGEL

What sounds so seemingly convincing has more than just one huge drawback. According to the IOC statutes, only the respective National Olympic Committees (NOCs) can become members of the IOC. When “35 nations are fighting back”, this obviously means that a certain number of NOCs are subject to pressure from the respective country’s political leadership to emphasize their political goals within the IOC. It is therefore clear that it is not only in Russia and Belarus that politics exerts an influence on sport.

However, 35 NOCs are not a majority. According to IOC data, there are 206 National Olympic Committees. This in turn means that the political IOC decision against the participation of Russia and Belarus in the Olympic Games, which was pushed through by the West, probably does not have as much international support as the major Western media are trying to make us believe.

After all, if one of the reasons why Russian athletes are not allowed to take part in the Olympics in Paris is the fact that there is a war in Ukraine, then it would be fair to exclude all NOCs from the Olympics whose countries are at war, including Israel, for example. Especially as in the case of Israel, there is a judicial accusation of genocide. However, according to French President Macron, Israeli athletes are expressly welcome.

The question of when the USA should have been allowed to take part in peaceful Olympic Games at all since the founding of the Olympic movement is also compelling and justifiable. After all, there has hardly been a year since the first Games in Athens in 1896 in which they have not attacked another country somewhere in the world. Yemen, as well as Syria and Iraq, are the most recent examples.

Conditions of participation in Paris

It is very illuminating to consider the conditions of participation for Russian and Belarusian athletes. As already mentioned, the participation of individual athletes is permitted under certain conditions, but that of team athletes is not. There is a method to this. Anyone who has ever achieved a victory with a team knows about its euphoric effect. Such a victory creates a tremendously strong sense of togetherness and belonging. Imagine if Russia won the gold medal in men’s volleyball at the Olympics. The world would see people like you and me standing there.

So teams were banned.

There is a subtle but important exception for Russian individual athletes: participation is automatically excluded without any alternative if the athlete is under contract to military structures, i.e. the police or military.

In doing so, the IOC is making the unsubstantiated claim that the athletes have any influence on their country’s military policy. That is of course nonsense. However, this condition affects a large number of athletes, and that was the aim. In Russia, many of them are traditionally socially protected in this way, without even being integrated into military structures.

The same is known to be true for Germany. If this condition were to be applied to individual German athletes, e.g. to the so-called sports soldiers, Germany would have difficulty filling certain sports at all.

For the neutral athletes at the 2024 Olympics, the IOC stipulates certain neutral clothing. At this point, I would like to mention the “efforts” that are getting completely out of hand to design this clothing as if the athlete had come straight from the slaughterhouse. A Czech journal excelled in this area, using artificial intelligence to give free rein to its ideas of decency and dignity.

These efforts were unsuccessful, but the ban on participation in the opening and closing ceremonies was. There is no plausible reason for this other than the deliberate humiliation of the athletes concerned and their nations.

The IOC’s shameful political game summarized in one condition

Now we come to the main condition for Russian athletes to take part in the 2024 Olympics in Paris.

In order to take part, they must distance themselves from Russian politics. To do this, each athlete must sign a declaration condemning the Russian military operation in Ukraine. The exact wording of this “document” is not yet public.

As the Olympic Charter states:

“Any form of discrimination against a country or a person on grounds of race, religion, politics, sex or any other grounds is incompatible with membership of the Olympic Movement”.

We will discuss below the perfidious strategies that the IOC not only but especially links to this condition and how it intends to organize control.

An IOC training program – only for Russians

Under its German head Thomas Bach, the hatred of everything Russian has reached a level unprecedented in the history of the IOC. The level falls below any standard and contradicts the Olympic Charter.

On the IOC website, for example, there is a “collection of training tasks” – exclusively in Russian. Behind it are 60 pages of “exercises to teach Olympic values“.

Well, why not, you might say. However, there are several buts:
Firstly, the official languages of the IOC are English and French. Accordingly, the entire website is created in these two languages. So why is this document alone in Russian?

These “exercises” were written exclusively in Russian, i.e. there is nothing comparable on the IOC website in any other language. In French or English, there are at most brief references to the topic, e.g. here.

The Russian exercise program is also structured in such a way that reading it inevitably creates a feeling of humiliation and subtle contempt in the addressee. The entire work is written in an arrogantly instructive style.

It was probably the aim of the IOC to use this document to ridicule the Russian sports movement, which has always played a key role in shaping the Olympic Movement over the decades, in front of the entire sports world.

An interview with an “African politician”

Quelle: Telegram

The still image above is from an interview that two Russian pranksters, “Wowan” and “Lexus”, conducted first with IOC boss Thomas Bach and then together with the EU Vice-President, the Greek Margaritis Schinas. The latter is responsible in the EU for issues including sport and migration.

Vladimir Kuznetsov is known as “Vovan” and “Lexus” is the stage name of Alexei Stoliarov. Both repeatedly call publicly known personalities under a fictitious identity in order to reveal the intentions of their actions. The targets are both Russian and international public figures. Greta Thunberg, for example, has been “interviewed” by them, as have Justin Trudeau and Christine Lagarde.

At the top left of the still image we see IOC boss Thomas Bach, at the top right the EU Vice-President Margaritis Schinas. At the bottom we see “Lexus” in the role of a “high-ranking African politician”. The video itself was published on April 2, 2024. Some readers may already be familiar with parts of the interview. It exposes Western politics and therefore also the politics of the IOC in a way that is only communicated behind closed doors. The content itself is hardly surprising. What is surprising, however, is the openness bordering on naivety in the statements made by lawyer Thomas Bach to an “African politician” completely unknown to him.

The aim of this “video prank” was probably to lure the IOC chief out of his shell regarding the participation of Russian athletes in the Paris Olympics and the IOC’s stance on the friendly games called by Russia in Moscow and Yekaterinburg in the summer of 2024. The head of the IOC was brutally clear on both topics. Based on the outcome, the only thing left to say is: Goal achieved.

Thomas Bach literally told the “high-ranking African politician” about the friendly games in Russia:

“We are categorically against these games. If you could do something with your reputation in relation to the African countries, we would be very, very grateful.”

He would not be a representative of the West if he did not threaten the “Africans” if they took part in the games in Russia:

“But in this context, they must be aware that they are taking sides by participating in these friendlies. That could entail risks, for example for the Olympic Games.”

As far as the Olympics in Paris are concerned, the IOC boss does not hide the fact in the interview that the sports sanctions are exclusively political in nature, on the contrary:

“We are punishing those responsible for the annexation, no Russian anthem may be played, the flag may not be raised. The Russian Olympic Committee, after we suspended it, made some pretty aggressive statements that this was discrimination and fascism.”

IOC President Bach openly admitted that he had checked the Russian athletes with the help of internet tracking and had been supported by Ukrainians, among others:

“We have a special monitoring commission. And they monitor the internet, the media and public statements. We have also offered and not only offered, but also asked the Ukrainian side to provide us with their information about the behavior of such athletes or officials.”

With this approach, the IOC has disqualified itself in terms of fairness and impartiality and made it clear that its charter means nothing to the current IOC leadership.

And then IOC boss Bach even boasted about the “dirty deeds” of the politicization of sport:

“Last year, before the last BRICS Games in South Africa, we made sure that they had no resonance in the world of sport.”

A sports association defies the dictates of the IOC

The only Russian that Thomas Bach seems to seriously fear is the head of the International Amateur Boxing Association (IBA), Umar Kremlev. The IOC withdrew its recognition of this association in 2023. The IOC chief explained this decision to his “high-ranking African interlocutor” literally like this:

“He is a corrupt guy. That’s why we had to exclude this international association.”

The real reason is much more obvious. The IBA, under the leadership of Umar Kremlev, refused to comply with the sanctions against Russia and Belarus demanded by the IOC. The exclusion was the result of this courageous decision.

Once again clearly and unequivocally:
The IOC excluded the boxing association IBA because its president adhered to the rules enshrined in the Olympic Charter, not because of proven offenses.

As a result, Russian athletes took part in the IBA’s European Boxing Championships, which took place in Belgrade, Serbia, in April 2024, on an equal footing and with full honors.

It is images like these that the IOC under Thomas Bach, which is under Western curatorship, and Western politicians fear.

Source: KP.ru

Source: Match.ru

The first shows Russian fans at the award ceremony for Yulia Chumgalakova at the European Boxing Championships in Belgrade. The second shows Yulia Chumgalakova herself. It wasn’t just her victory that moved her to tears. At the award ceremony, where the Russian anthem was of course also played, the technology failed, so that the anthem only played for about 20 seconds. She could not hold back her tears as the audience sang the anthem a capella.

At the European Boxing Championships in Belgrade, the Russian anthem was interrupted, but the fans in the hall supported Yulia Chumgalakova in unison.

European_dissident pic.twitter.com/f1M1yx5d8E

— dana (@dana916) April 29, 2024

Question for our German-speaking readers: Can you imagine this happening in a German, Swiss or Austrian victory in women’s boxing?

The reference to Russian sources in this context is not accidental. On the German-language Internet and also in the English-language version of google, there was no serious mention of the European Boxing Championships in Belgrade from April 15-29, 2024. It practically did not take place – proof of the interplay between the IOC and big politics in action and also that German public broadcasting is not fulfilling its obligations under the state treaty.

Russian athletes won a total of 20 medals in Belgrade, 11 gold, eight silver and one bronze.

The head of the IOC disqualifies himself

The scene represented by the still image above is probably the low point of the interview with Thomas Bach and Margaritis Schinas. The entire hubris and surreality of the conversation culminate in it. The “high-ranking African politician” asks out of tradition and respect for the “Saints Vovan and Lexus” to put his hand on his heart and pray for the Russian “Games of Friendship to stop”.

And the high representative of international sport and the high representative of European politics follow the “ritual” without hesitation.

Once again in slow motion:
German lawyer and IOC boss Thomas Bach and Greek Vice-EU President Margaritis Schinas, also a lawyer, worship the (Russian) “Saints Vovan and Lexus” at the request of an African “high-ranking (!!) politician” who is completely unknown to them … What cinema.

The official Russian position on the participation of Russian athletes in the Paris Olympics

Of course, the Russian athletes want to take part in the Olympic Games like all other athletes. Like their competitors, they have spent years training for it and for many it is a unique opportunity in their lives.

The disappointment about the sports policy situation is palpable, and you can find statements for and against participation in the Russian media. This constellation alone is probably incomprehensible to the IOC and large sections of the Western public. They were certainly expecting a huge outcry in Russian sport. However, this did not happen, at least not in the sense of the IOC.

But that is not all. The Russian government did not even intervene to prevent Russian athletes from taking part in the Olympics. On the contrary. Those for whom participation is nevertheless an option, even under the conditions mentioned – the above list is not exhaustive – are free to travel to Paris.

The assistant to the Russian President, Igor Levitin, commented on this question a few days ago to the Russian news agency TASS. With his statement, he also turned some sports policy facts upside down, saying:

“The Olympic Games are not the Olympic Games of the countries, but of the athletes. The position here is that it’s every athlete’s right, and if an athlete decides to go to the Olympics, they go there as a neutral athlete.”

IGOR LEWITIN

At the same time, Igor Levitin made it unmistakably clear:

“But the most important thing is that he shouldn’t sign any documents that discriminate against the work of the guys out there on the front line.”

IGOR LEWITIN

That was a very clear reference to the Russian legal situation. No one has yet seen the declaration that Russian athletes have to sign when participating. However, the statements made by the IOC so far suggest that signing this document could lead to a confrontation with Russian legal norms.

Concluding

Sport and politics are inseparable. For more than 120 years of its existence, the modern Olympic movement has survived very difficult times. And after the devastating wars of the last century, it was a very effective means of bringing people closer together again and building trust, in the spirit of Baron de Coubertin.

Today’s developments in sports policy cannot be viewed in isolation from major politics. The former British diplomat Alastair Crooke said with regard to the recent attacks by Israel on the Iranian consulate in Damascus:

“Israel’s goal is […] to destroy the norms, conventions and laws of warfare; to create a geopolitical anarchy in which anything is possible”.

ALASTAIR CROOKE

These are the same goals, the same methods that the USA created, covered up and made possible through its actions in the case of Israel, with which the Western countries, led by the USA, built up a global system of influence over the decades, with which they attempted to systematically place all areas of international life under their control. They have largely achieved this through political, economic and financial levers. Sport is a not insignificant link in this chain.

Nevertheless, we are living in a time in which the old certainties of the West are rapidly disintegrating and new things are seeking and finding their place. As has so often been the case, sport will play a positive, peaceful and unifying role.

Bernd Stange, coach of the GDR national soccer team until 1988 and later also worked in Syria, among other places, once said in an interview:

“Football is peace, has a message and can achieve more than years of diplomacy.”

BERND STANGE