Ukraine ready to boycott Olympic Games if Russia and Belarus take part in competition- Ukrainian Prime Minister
Ukraine ready to boycott Olympic Games if Russia and Belarus take part in competition- Ukrainian Prime Minister
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IIRC, Russia, at least, has had to participate under a neutral flag in recent games due to their ongoing doping scandals anyway. Other than Belarus also competing under a neutral flag, what would substantially change?
What does it mean when you're competing under a neutral flag?
it means you compete as an independent, neutral entity and not under your country’s flag so your country gets zero recognition for any achievements, only the individuals.
What does that matter?
An athlete from Russia would clearly be from Russia still?It reduces the prestige a nation can garner from success at the games. Think about all the soft power Russia accumulated at Sochi with their many wins thanks to their doping program.
How does that give Russia soft power?
It made Russia look powerful and resurgent to the outside world, which attracts other nations into their sphere of influence. It also is a distraction from rights abuses and political retaliation. Here’s an article about Saudi Arabia’s use of sports washing.
https://www.france24.com/en/20200102-saudi-uses-sports-soft-power-as-lever-of-influence
That influence is diminished when the whole world is reminded repeatedly that your athletes cannot compete under your flag.
they're not allowed to compete for Russia, they're competing under "Russian Olympic Committee Athletes"- ROC athletes don't earn medals for Russian, and they're not allowed to use the russian flag or anthem for any ceremonies (The Flag parade thing at the start, and for medals, IIRC)
It's basically a farce. Ostensibly, the decision was made to allow the athletes to still compete and not be punished for something that the... ROC... and russian government... did. But... it's still basically the same Committee that sponored the doping program in the first place.
The reality is, though. the IOC is kowtowed to the Russians because nobody really wants to host the Olympics anymore. Except for people that want to use the games for some global reputation laundering. (see... bejing games. sochii games... Qatar's World Cup,) building big venues capable of hosting the olympics in particular is ridiculously expensive, and the IOC doesn't really want to do the games in not-new-facilities. Leading to the problem of costs for the hosting nation being ridiculous, and the local cities not really benefiting all that much in comparison. (the stadiums and security for the games are freaking obscene. Tourism doesn't compensate.)