#BoycottRussianSport: what are Ukraine’s solutions, and what else can be done?

What is the problem?

In the full-scale Russian-Ukrainian war that has been going on for more than a year 262 Ukrainian athletes have already died, and more than 350 sports facilities have been destroyed. These destructions do not stop, but the International Olympic Committee (IOC) considers it acceptable to allow Russian and Belarusian athletes to participate in international competitions under a neutral flag.

Just a little over a year ago — on February 28, 2022, after the beginning of a full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, in response to the appeal of Ukrainian athletes, the International Olympic Committee recommended that Russians and Belarusians not be allowed to participate in international competitions. And already, on March 28, 2023, it recommended that international sports federations allow athletes from Russia and Belarus to compete in tournaments held under their auspices.

In particular, the president of the International Olympic Committee, Thomas Bach, named six conditions under which Russian and Belarusian athletes are allowed to compete:

1. They must compete only as neutral athletes.
2. Teams from Russia and Belarus cannot compete.
3. Athletes and personnel actively supporting the war may not compete.
4. Athletes who have a contract with the Russian and Belarusian armies and the National Guard cannot compete.
5. Neutral athletes allowed to compete must meet all requirements, including anti-doping rules.
6. Sanctions against Russia and Belarus as states should remain in force: a ban on competitions, a ban on symbols, and attendance at international events.

After that, the international sports federations of table tennis, taekwondo, and wrestling announced the return of Russian and Russian athletes to international tournaments. And at the beginning of March, the International Fencing Federation (FIE) also decided to return Russians and Belarusians to the competition.

What is the solution?

The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has decided that Ukrainian athletes will boycott the tournaments of 2024 Olympics, in which representatives of the Russian Federation and Belarus participate. The Ministry of Youth and Sports published the relevant order.

Oleh Nemchinov, the minister of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, specified that the participation of Ukrainian athletes outside these criteria could be grounds for depriving the federation of its national status.

The Ministry of Youth and Sports of Ukraine also reported that together with the Security Service of Ukraine, it is working on the issue of applying personal special economic and other restrictive measures (sanctions) to sports federations and their members for their actions that create actual and/or potential threats the interests of society and the state.

How does it work, and what does it mean?

Such decisions of the Ukrainian authorities are stages of the Marathon of Honesty announced by the President of Ukraine at the beginning of the year. The actions of Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Youth and Sports, the National Olympic Committee, sports federations, individual athletes, and all concerned citizens, according to the president, are aimed at cleansing the leadership of the international Olympic structures of hypocrisy and any efforts to put representatives of the terrorist state into the world sports.

For its part, the IOC criticized the latest decision of the Ukrainian government, saying that it will only harm the Ukrainian community of athletes and national sports federations: "The IOC has always maintained that it is not up to governments to decide which athletes can participate in which international competitions." The International Olympic Committee has also promised athletes who want to compete and will lose the support of their national sports federations and the National Olympic Committee due to state intervention, direct assistance from the Olympic Movement Solidarity Fund for the Olympic community of Ukraine, as well as support programs for athletes from the IOC.

Ukrainian diver Stanislav Oliferchyk is one of those who unconditionally joined the boycott of competitions with the participation of Russians and Belarusians.

Oliferchyk comes from Mariupol. The Neptune sports complex, where he trained, was repaired just before the Russian invasion but never got a chance to be opened. The sportsman had high hopes for these halls, but the Russians destroyed them the same day they viciously destroyed the drama theater building, killing hundreds of civilians who used it as a bomb shelter.

To convey his position, Oliferchyk recently gave an interview to the Reuters agency, in which he noted: 

"(Now) when there is an air raid alert, we — in swimming suits — rush straight to the bomb shelter to take cover. No one knows what will be hit while they (Russians) can train, and they're not worried about anything.

"They keep silent and accept what's going on, and it's alright for them. No way Russians should be allowed to take part in the competitions – if it happens, we will boycott."

The diving team of Ukraine also recorded a corresponding video message to the international sports community.

Among those who found themselves in the most challenging conditions is the Fencing Federation of Ukraine. The International Fencing Federation allowed the participation of Russians and Belarusians in competitions under its auspices even before the new recommendations of the IOC. So Ukrainian federation appealed to the International Fencing Federation to prevent the return of these athletes and is appealing the FIE's decision in court.

"It's clear that the athletes I talk to and I are against the decision of the International Fencing Federation (FIE) and the International Olympic Committee,"  Bohdan Nikishyn, the Olympian and a senior coach of the Ukrainian national fencing team (women's epee) told Rubryka. "After all, they simply have no logic. There is no answer to why Russians were banned from participating a year ago, and now this decision has been changed. What has changed in a year? Did they leave Ukrainian territories? Have they stopped killing or stopped shooting?" 

Nikishin sadly concludes that what the IOC and the FIE are doing now is nothing more than easing sanctions against the aggressor country. And the aggressor country behaves the same as it did a year ago.

Nikishin is also outraged by the statements of the head of the Russian Olympic Committee, Stanislav Pozdniakov, "regarding equal conditions for athletes of all countries,"

"They destroyed our sports facilities, killed our athletes, and now they tell us everyone should be in the same conditions?! We train without light, and we have problems with logistics and the minimum budget for sports. And they talk about some equality?!" the coach is shocked. "What equality of sports can we talk about if we flew to China for a competition just a few weeks ago, and thanks to our neighbors, the trip there took almost three days!"

Nikishin also shares that Ukrainian athletes receive support and sympathy from colleagues from France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, and the USA. However, when there is a question about specific actions, for example, boycotting competitions with the participation of Russians and Belarusians, they will do what the leadership of their federations or states tells them. The situation is challenging for Ukrainian sports.

At the same time, some of the athletes publicly spoke out against the decision of the Ministry of Youth and Sports of Ukraine, in particular, Ukrainian skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych called it a "Destruction of Ukrainian sports" operation. In his opinion, it is much more effective to come to competitions and hold protests, give interviews to the media, put pressure on competition organizers, and resist the spread of Russian narratives.

Other solutions

Unfortunately, Russian influence on individual international federations, such as the International Judo Federation, remains quite high. Russian companies such as Rosneft, Gazprom, and others have been sponsors of the latter for many years. However, the Ukrainian national federation overcame the influence last year, says the head coach of the Ukrainian national judo team Vitaliy Dubrova.

Last year, after the Russians were admitted to the tournament under the auspices of the International Judo Federation in Mongolia, Ukraine boycotted these competitions, says Dubrova. 

"Then there was a recommendation of the IOC on suspension, which made things a little easier. They stepped back and invited Ukrainian athletes to the tournaments in Budapest, next after Mongolia, assuring that the Russians would not be there," Dubrova continues. "But we didn't come to Budapest or Zagreb, and only after the Russians were officially suspended we started to participate in the competitions. We missed three Olympic qualification tournaments, lost some rating points, and the opportunity to improve our positions in the Olympic rating, but the goal was ultimately achieved."

• Actively interact with international sports federations
• Expose Russian and Belarusian athletes who are involved in the security forces of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus
• Participate in public campaigns to boycott Russian and Belarusian athletes in the international arena.

Matviy Bidnyi, the Deputy Minister of Youth and Sports of Ukraine, during a meeting with the heads of national federations for non-Olympic sports, emphasized that the future of Ukraine depends on international support today. The sports community of Ukraine has no right to send a false signal to its allies, who are also considering the possibilities of a tough reaction to a possible demarche of the IOC.

So now Ukrainian athletes are the voice of Ukraine at the international level, and they are encouraged to join the boycott campaign.

Olena Hovorova, track and field athlete and deputy head of the Kyiv City Council on exercising self-governing powers, emphasized on the all-Ukrainian telethon United News that Ukrainians should continue to fight at the international level.

She drew attention to the fact that a recent IOC statement said: "The IOC expressly reserves the right to decide about their participation at the appropriate time, even if they would be considered to have qualified according to the qualification criteria set by their respective International Federations (IFs)."

That is, there is still a real opportunity to influence the position of the International Olympic Committee, and Ukraine needs the unity of the sports community.

Hovorova sees the invitation of representatives of international federations to Ukraine and active communication with them so that they see and realize why Ukrainians cannot stand side by side at competitions with representatives of the aggressor country and its satellite as one of the ways of influence. The athlete noted that the Ukrainian position was supported by one of the most powerful world federations, the World Athletics Federation, so now it is necessary to convince more than 40 others.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Dmytro Kuleba, aptly described the involvement of Russian and Belarusian athletes in the law enforcement agencies of their countries in the column for the French media L'Express:

"'Sport is outside of politics,' say supporters of the participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes in international competitions. They prefer to ignore that most of these athletes are active military personnel," Kuleba writes. "For example, 45 of the 71 medals won by the Russian team at the Olympic Games in Tokyo were awarded to members of the Central Sports Club of the Russian Army, who are active Russian soldiers. The Russians never hid it, and they are proud of it. Sports, state propaganda, and the army are inseparable in Russia."

The National Judo Federation of Ukraine also collects evidence of Russian athletes' involvement in law enforcement structures. In Russia, 90 or even more percent of athletes are involved in the Central Sports Club of the Army or the Russian Guard.

"We have prepared a letter to the international federation with all the data we have collected about Russian and Belarusian athletes. In my opinion, the further development of the situation will depend on the decision of the international federation," says the head coach of the Ukrainian national judo team Dubrova.

Will it definitely work?

Under the hashtag #BoycottRussianSport, over 5,000 posts, illustrations, and video appeals from Ukrainians and, notably, foreign citizens who support the Ukrainian position have already appeared. Ukrainian athletes hold joint conferences and appeal to the heads of federations, cities, and states to refrain from supporting the participation of Russians and Belarusians in competitions.

Ukrainian position finds feedback. For example, Denmark and Poland refused to hold fencing competitions after the International Fencing Federation decided to admit Russians and Belarusians. The political leaders of many other states support Ukraine in these efforts. 

Every Ukrainian can make a post on social networks with the hashtags #BoycottRussianSport, #StandWithUkraine, #russiaisaterroriststate, #NoNeutralRussiansandBelarusians, #SuspendRussianandBelarusianSport, chat with foreign friends or acquaintances. There is still hope that, in the end, the decision will be in Ukraine's favor.

Photo from the archive of Bohdan Nikishin and provided by the Diving Federation of Ukraine, illustrations by Anna Sarvira, Andrii Yermolenko, Artem Motozyuk, Mykhailo Skop, and others from the #BoycottRussianSport campaign