Olympic athlete disqualified: rightly or wrongly?
A controversy over a helmet decorated with pictures of twenty athletes killed in the war in Ukraine is raging: Ukrainian skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych wanted to commemorate his colleagues with this gesture, and has now been disqualified from the Winter Olympics for violating its Charter. European commentators question whether this was a wise decision by the IOC.
Sport is not outside ethics
Human rights activist Olexandra Matviychuk appeals to the IOC on Facebook:
“I would like to remind the International Olympic Committee that sport is outside politics, but not outside ethics. Heraskevych's helmet, as a memorial to the Ukrainian athletes who were part of the Olympic movement, may irritate the Kremlin, but it should not raise questions among representatives of the International Olympic Committee. And yes, remembrance is not a violation.”
Too boorish
The IOC is interpreting its rules too narrowly, Der Tagesspiegel criticises:
“'No kind of demonstration or political, religious or racial propaganda is permitted in any Olympic sites, venues or other areas,' states rule 50 of the Olympic Charter. But is commemorating athletes who have been killed really 'political propaganda'? At the Winter Games in Beijing four years ago, Heraskevych held up a sign to the camera that read 'No War in Ukraine', and just under two weeks later, Russia attacked. The IOC classified it as a 'general call for peace' and therefore not a violation of Article 50. This time, too, the IOC could have shown tact and sensitivity.”
Pictures of victims are not slogans
Tikhon Dzyadko, editor-in-chief of TV channel Dozhd, sees the athlete's disqualification as further proof of growing indifference to the suffering of Ukrainians:
“The IOC's decision would be understandable if it had been an offensive slogan or statement, the logo of a political party or a call to violence on his helmet. But it was nothing of the sort: portraits of people who could have participated in the Olympic Games but never will because they were killed in this senseless and cruel war, which has become a normal state of affairs for the world. This IOC decision is clearly further confirmation of that.”
A contradictory move
The Olympic Committee is inconsistent, the Irish Independent points out:
“Has the IOC forgotten that it has itself banned Russia and Belarus from all Olympic competition in 2022? And that, in doing so, it made the biggest political statement by any sporting body since the end of apartheid? The irony here is that the IOC actually did the right thing four years ago. It showed more backbone than a number of other governing bodies, notably the global tennis tours, which cravenly voted to penalise Wimbledon for taking a stand against Vladimir Putin. And yet, by excluding Heraskevych, it has now come off looking like the villains.”