Two-thirds of the athletes from Russia and Belarus who received permission from the International Olympic Committee to compete in the Paris Olympics as neutral athletes actually violated the ban on expressing support for Russia's military invasion of Ukraine.
This is according to a report by Global Rights Compliance, a Hague-based foundation, which claims that IOC rules were not actually followed.
Earlier this year, the IOC decided to allow athletes from Russia and Belarus to compete in Paris if they did not have military status or expressed support for the war in Ukraine. In the end, 15 Russians and 16 Belarusians will compete in Paris, but according to the report, their numbers should be lower, with 10 of the 15 Russians not meeting the limits.
The report also gives specific examples. In March 2022, Russian cyclist Alena Ivanchenko liked a post on social media that featured a photo of Joseph Stalin with the caption "Truce with the enemy is possible only after his destruction." Her teammate Tamara Dronova has ties to the security services and has publicly expressed support for the war. Canoeist Olesia Romasenko is a competitor of CSKA (Central Sports Club of the Army), which is a department of the Ministry of War.
Similar examples are given with the canoeist Alexey Korovashkov, the swimmer Evgeny Somov, the gymnast Angela Bladcheva, the tennis players Mira Andreeva, Diana Schneider and Elena Vesnina and the tennis player Pavel Kotov, as well as with some of the athletes of Belarus. | BGNES
