Ed Warner: Gaza and Ukraine conflicts send Paris Olympics threat levels to maximum
Fighting between Israel and Hamas in Gaza has only escalated the threat level at a Paris 2024 Olympics already compromised by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, writes Ed Warner.
Late last year a friend told me he reads this column each Thursday to understand the dirty politics inside sport and then restores his love of the subject by watching it at the weekend.
Well, I make no apology to him for the welter of commentary on all things grubbily Olympic that I’ll likely churn out in the run-up to Paris 2024 as I’m sure the Games themselves will (as ever) set his sporting heart – and yours – pounding this summer.
The question of Russian and Belarusian athlete participation in Paris is a contentious one. The conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza has only added to its moral and practical complexities.
The International Olympic Committee would have the world perched with it on a fence of non-judgmental neutrality, not so much blind to wars as believing that its Games can rise above them in some happy-clappy extra geo-political dimension – at least for a fortnight every couple of years.
Its solution is to strike out Russia and Belarus but allow the countries’ sportspeople to compete as “neutrals”. Provided, that is, that they are neither connected to the military, nor have declared support for the war in Ukraine.
“From the reactions [of Russia and Ukraine], Bach concludes that neither side is satisfied. ‘That means we have obviously found a good middle ground,’ explained the IOC president.” – Die Welt website, 23 December.
Not all sports have followed the IOC’s guidelines. World Athletics has (admirably, I believe) taken the toughest stance, deciding not to open the neutrality door.
Others have effectively blocked athletes from the aggressor nations by virtue of their systems of sporting qualification for the Olympics. In many cases, qualifying competitions have been and gone without Russian involvement.
As of December, the IOC stated that of the 4,600 global athletes already qualified for Paris, only eight are Russian and three Belarusian. More than 60 are Ukrainian.
To my mind, just a single Russian – even if deemed and badged neutral – is one too many. The rights of the innocent individual are all very well, but do we need the risk of that athlete being drawn to compete head-to-head with a Ukrainian and the propaganda opportunity that would afford Vladimir Putin?
Think too of athletes from the warring nations finding themselves side-by-side in the dining room at the athlete village, training in the gym or on a bus to a competition venue. Why inflict discomfort on those from the invaded nation?
Ukraine might yet choose not to send a team to Paris if (as is almost certain) the IOC persists with its compromise solution.
Volodymyr Zelensky’s choice will likely be driven by his own propaganda strategy. Withhold his team and the IOC’s grubby stance is highlighted every time a “neutral” Russian competes against an absence of Ukrainians. But enter and the narrative of the nation’s struggle is repeated every time one of its athletes takes to the field of play.
The war in Ukraine looks set to grind on to an eventual truce borne of mutual exhaustion. Whether that is months or still years away is unclear.
Governments and businesses around the world took early stands that are largely unchanged almost two years into the conflict. The same is true of sport. In time there will be a recalibration of all these relationships, such is the geopolitical reality.
Now, though, with the Olympics only months away, is not the time for sporting bodies to soften their resistance to Russia. The IOC does not appear to do shame, but those of its members – sports federations and member nations – should do what they can to call it out for its backdoor appeasement of Putin’s regime. And encourage Ukraine to take part, for that is the route to maximal propaganda benefit.
What, though, of Israel and Palestine? The former had 90 competitors in Tokyo, winning four medals; Palestine fielded five, having been a member of the IOC since 1995.
If the conflict in Gaza stretches on for months, will Israel deem it too frivolous to send athletes? Or too dangerous? And will the Palestine Olympic Committee prove able to organise a team?
It might seem inappropriate to some to evoke the memory of the massacre of Israeli athletes by Black September militants at the Munich 1972 Olympics, but this will be central to the thinking of those planning Paris 2024.
True, never a Games goes by without concerns about security, but current events in Gaza and Ukraine mean the threat levels will be as high as the organisers’ scales allow.
Quel athlète!
Amazon are said to have chosen not to renew Mud, Sweat and Tears, its two-part docuseries about Premiership Rugby. I wasn’t even aware of its existence, but the report sent me scurrying to my remote control. The streaming giant has made the right call it seems. Low grade.
The rush to concoct sports content is further evidence of the TV industry’s propensity to herd mentality – witness the fads for quizzes, talent shows, antique hunts and celebrity contests. Few, though, match up to Sunderland ‘Til I Die or the first couple of series of Drive to Survive.
Too much editorial control (for which read airbrush-wielding) handed over to the subjects opening themselves up to scrutiny? Or maybe many in sport are simply too dull to watch as they go about their daily work? The producers then try overly hard to make something of very little.
Watch Tour de France: Unchained and you’d think pile-ups are a constant of the race. (And, by the way, don’t view it dubbed into English as the translators suck out all their subjects’ Gallic emotion).
Occasionally, though, it all comes together in exhilarating fashion – even if you do know as a viewer that you’re being massively played in the edit. I’ve an interest in the business phenomenon that is the NFL but have very little experience of actually watching American football. But wow, Netflix’s Quarterback is something else – and specifically the Kansas City Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes. What an athlete! My broadcast pick of ‘23.
My primer for the docuseries producers. Binge-watch some quality drama first to see what it really takes: Succession, The Last of Us, Slow Horses, Hijack (proud father disclaimer: Clemency Warner appears on the production credits), Happy Valley, Vigil or even a few episodes of Corrie.
Ed Warner is chair of GB Wheelchair Rugby and writes his sport column at sportinc.substack.com