Wow, the President of the International Olympic Committee has strongly distanced himself from Russia’s aggressors. According to the Russian media, IOC boss Thomas Bach should receive a special Russian medal after the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi. But, attention, please: Bach never accepted this order and never received it, said an IOC spokesman for the World.
This reference fits nicely into the line that has been presented since the beginning of the war of aggression, in which Bach acts as if he had virtually nothing to do with Russia and Vladimir Putin. Putin, Putin, was that a Soviet opponent on the way to the Olympic gold medal with the foil fencers in 1976?
A cup of coffee, some fruit and a good mood: Russian President Vladimir Putin (left) and IOC boss Thomas Bach during the 2014 Winter Olympics.
(Photo: David Goldman/AP)
Well, in fact, alongside Fifa President Gianni Infantino, Bach is the official who embodies the dependence of world sport on Russia like no other. Countless human rights violations, the 2008 war in Georgia, the annexation of Crimea in 2014 – it doesn’t matter, dear Vladimir Vladimirovich, we’re happy to give you the stage for the 2014 Winter Games and the 2018 World Cup. And even the big state doping scam didn’t spoil good relations , under the control of the IOC, the state dopers got off with a lot of leniency.
This Russia-friendliness now continues. With a few exceptions, such as the Candidates Tournament in chess or the Tour de France, Russian athletes are excluded from international competitions. But the Russian officials and the Russian professional associations are in most cases still part of the sports family. The best example? Bach’s IOC. The Russian Olympic Committee is not suspended. And there are still four Russian members in the IOC. Transferred to politics, the logic of Bach & Co. goes like this: Russian soldiers have to be court-martialed, the generals and Putin are spared.
It is a tragedy what sport is delivering under the leadership of the IOC. That’s why it’s good that various (Western) governments are making attempts to do something about the current situation. A text is now being debated in which a large number of countries are calling for the end of Russian professional associations. But politicians shouldn’t just leave it at words either, but would have to consider the consequences if world sport, which is steeped in Russian money and Russian dependencies, continues to act as close to Russia as it has done for many years.