Ukraine Bans Athletes from Competing Against Russia and Belarus

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Facts

• Ukraine’s Ministry of Youth and Sports on Friday banned its country's athletes and national teams from competing in any tournament where Russian and Belarusian athletes are also taking part. The ban applies to Olympic and non-Olympic sports, as well as competitions for sporting events for disabled people.¹
• It comes as Thomas Bach, Pres. of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), last month defended his decision to recommend allowing Russian and Belarusian athletes to return to individual sports after they were banned from most international competitions last year. However, a decision has yet to be made about participation in the Olympics ahead of the 2024 Paris games.²
• Nonetheless, Bach condemned Western governments for attempting to influence his decision. He said: 'It is deplorable that these governments do not address the question of double standards...It cannot be up to the governments to decide which athletes can participate in which competition. This would be the end of world sport as we know it today.'²
• Some Ukrainian athletes — including Vladyslav Heraskevych, an Olympic skeleton racer — criticized their government's decision on Friday, saying it would destroy Ukrainian sports. 'If Ukrainian representatives are not present at competitions, then we completely vacate the international sports grounds and give the Russian/Belarusian representatives the opportunity to promote their narratives and propaganda,' he said.³
• Meanwhile, fighting raged on in many areas of the front line. Ukrainian officials said they repelled Russian attacks in Lyman, Avdiivka, Marinka, and Bakhmut in the Donetsk region, in addition to attacks in the regions of Sumy, Kherson, Kharkiv, and Zaporizhzhia. Three civilians were reported killed and eight more were injured in attacks over the past day.⁴
• In its latest intelligence briefing, the UK's defense ministry said: 'Russia has re-energised [sic] its assault on the Donetsk Oblast town of Bakhmut as forces of the Russian MoD and Wagner Group have improved cooperation. The Ukrainian defense still holds the western districts of the town but has been subjected to particularly intense Russian artillery fire over the previous 48 hours,' and that Ukraine has 'made orderly withdrawals from the positions they have been forced to concede.'⁵

Sources: ¹Ukrainska Pravda (a), ²Al Jazeera, ³US News & World Report, ⁴Ukrainska Pravda (b) and ⁵Evening Standard.

Narratives

• Pro-establishment narrative, as provided by The Star. While the International Olympic Committee cloaks itself in self-serving rhetoric about independence and fair play, allowing Russia to compete in the Olympics after it launched an unprovoked invasion of Ukraine is simply the wrong decision. The body must hold Russia, and its accomplice Belarus, accountable for the war crimes they've committed on the global stage.
• Establishment-critical narrative, as provided by Al Jazeera. Countries who call for Russia's exclusion from sports make no mention of the scores of other countries currently involved in 70 wars across the world. This is a double standard and precisely why governments shouldn't have a say in who competes at international events — doing so would be the end of world sports.

Predictions