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A very important statement

The heads of state of the G7 – United States, France, United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, Canada and Italy – have therefore, rather unexpectedly, it must be said, followed the recommendations of the IOC, clearly calling on the sports bodies not to mix sport and politics.

“The IOC warmly welcomes the support given by the G7 to the autonomy of sport and the recommendations of the Olympic body on the participation of athletes with Russian or Belarusian passports, only as individual neutral athletes.

This commitment to the autonomy of sports organizations comes at a crucial time when it is threatened by certain governments. Therefore, we are very grateful to the G7 leaders for this unequivocal statement. said IOC President Thomas Bach.

A statement that we also like because, since the start of this war, we have been one of the few, if not the only media, to have dared to write that we should not mix sport and politics, and that obviously earned its fair share of hate messages. .

Sport must unite and not divide, it is an Olympic principle which must never be called into question, and never has been in the past.

As for us, we are now awaiting the reactions of the International Ski Federation and especially of the International Biathlon Union, which has no desire to make a move against the Russian athletes.

This statement by the G7 also puts an end to speculation about a possible boycott by several major countries of the Paris Olympics, in the event of the involvement of Russian and Belarusian athletes.

Today, the Scandinavian nations, Norway and Sweden, are increasingly alone and will find it increasingly difficult to make their voices heard.