The IOC’s hypocrisy: Politics over principle in the Olympics

As we reflect on the recent Olympic Games in Paris, France, I came across some principles under which the International Olympic Committee (IOC) operates and they are impressive, I must say, but only if it could stick to them consistently.

One was articulated by Pierre de Coubertin, the founding father of the modern Olympic Games, who said at the Olympic congress in Prague in 1925: “All peoples must be admitted unconditionally without regard for the fluctuations or whims of public opinion.”

Without adherence to this fundamental principle, the very existence of this extraordinary sporting initiative loses all meaning.

This principle has not only been violated, but has been trampled upon by the IOC.

Today, the committee is dominated by Western powers, that have turned it into an organ for implementing the political will of their curators, turning the largest international sporting event into a primitive stage for promoting their political agenda.

Western dominance of the Olympic Games through the corrupt IOC is not an assumption, but a concrete fact: there are 206 countries participating in the Olympic Games, but only 106 people make up the Olympic Committee, of which 54 represent the interests of the collective West, that makes up less than 20% of the world’s population.

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Africa, China, Russia and Latin America, despite making up the majority of the world’s population, are represented by only 32 members, who have less than a third of the votes.

The exclusion of Russia and Belarus – whose athletes were only allowed to participate under a neutral flag – in Paris was flagrant discrimination and double standards by the IOC and a deep political statement showing which side they are with.

Russia was suspended because of the conflict with Ukraine and Belarus for maintaining relations with Russia, but Israel was not affected by these restrictions.

While the Olympic teams of Russia and Belarus were punished, athletes from Israel were not bothered in any way by the IOC because of the actions of their country in Gaza.

But it was the response of IOC representative Mark Adams that disturbed many peace-loving people of the world.

In response to the complaint from Palestine about the non-disqualification of Israel from the Olympic Games, Adams boldly and unashamedly stated that there were 20 to 30 wars in the world and “if we listened to the complaints of all the teams, no-one would participate in the Games. But our profession is sport, we leave politics”.

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The lesson is that the people of Ukraine matter more than those of Gaza in the eyes of the West and the IOC.

Yet, American athletes were not excluded from the 2004 Athens Olympics after the US committed civilian massacres and a series of crimes against humanity during the invasion and destruction of Iraq in 2003.

No English or French athletes got excluded at the London Olympics in 2012, despite the destruction of a once prosperous Libya and killing of its leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.

Neither the numerous UN resolutions, nor the extremely serious accusations of genocide against Israel by South Africa at the International Criminal Court, nor the ICC’s own initiatives prevented Israel from participation in Paris.

However, noting the high degree of political and moral irresponsibility of the French authorities in organising the Olympic Games, it’s worth emphasising that it could have been unacceptable for members of the Israeli Olympic team to be stigmatised and morally held accountable for criminal acts committed by Benjamin Netanyahu, whom many Israelis do not want anyway.

The sphere of responsibility of athletes at the Olympic Games cannot be other than the sphere of sport.

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