IOC members from Russia have no links with country’s military, thus faced no suspension, says Thomas Bach

Mumbai:  While suspending the Russian Olympic Committee for breach of the Olympic charter for annexing regions of Ukraine, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has not taken any action against its two Russian members because they have no relations with the country’s military, President Thomas Bach has clarified.

Bach said the IOC was sure that the former Olympic champion pole vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva and Shamil Tarpischev — Russia’s two International Olympic Committee members — did not support the invasion of Ukraine.

“They are not Russia’s representative in IOC but IOC’s representatives in Russia,” Bach said on Friday, a day after the IOC suspended the Russian Olympic Committee after it listed sports bodies from regions annexed from Ukraine as its members.

Asked why IOC members from Russia had not been banned while the ROC had been, Bach said an internal ethics investigation showed no reason to do so.

“To ensure the equal treatment between officials and athletes we have nevertheless submitted these IOC members in Russia to an assessment by the IOC ethics commission,” Bach added.

“The understanding of the ethics commission is that neither Ms Isinbayeva nor Mr Tarpischev had contractual links with the Russian military or security agencies or supported the war in Ukraine.”

Bach clarified the IOC decision would not impact the participation of sportspersons with Russian passports in the Olympic Games in Paris as neutral representatives and said the IOC does not punish the sportspersons for decisions taken by officials or by the country’s government.

Therefore, even though the Russian Olympic Committee will not receive any funding from the IOC, sportspersons getting IOC grants will not suffer.

Bach said the IOC had given the Russian Olympic Committee a chance to put its view before the suspension and said its contention that no action was taken by the IOC when it annexed Crimea in 2014 was rejected. “The IOC has not acknowledged Russia annexing Crimea and therefore not taking any action at that time can’t be a reason for not taking action now.

The IOC, which had suspended Russia for the invasion of Ukraine and Belarus for supporting the action, has yet to decide if Russian and Belarusian athletes will be allowed to compete at next year’s Paris Olympics.

–IANS