Why in the News?

• Athletes from Russia and Belarus are banned from participating in the ongoing Paris Olympics under their nations’ official flags.
  • Many of them compete under a separate category called Athletes Individuals Neutres (AIN) in French, which means Individual Neutral Athletes.

Reason 

• The ongoing war in Ukraine and the conflict between Israel and Hamas add to the geopolitical tensions.
• The Paris Summer Olympics are “the most geopolitically charged Olympics in decades.”
• The International Olympic Committee (IOC) sanctioned Russia and Belarus after the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
• • The invasion violated the Games’ Olympic Truce, which says nations should not attack each other from 1 week before the Olympics to 1 week after the Paralympics.
  • Belarus was implicated for allegedly allowing Russia to use its territory for military purposes.
• In October 2023, the Russian Olympic Committee was suspended after declaring authority over Ukrainian sports organizations in certain regions.

Political Neutrality and Violations

• The IOC cited Russia’s International Friendship Association (IFA) as a political body violating the IOC charter.
• The charter states that sports organizations within the Olympic Movement should apply political neutrality.
• Russia’s announcement of the Friendship Games in 2024 led to accusations of politicizing sports.
• Critics note the concept of “political neutrality” is not based on objective criteria and is challenging to interpret consistently.

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