From Ukraine to the Middle East, the conflicts that mark Paris-2024

After two Olympic events under the health bubble – behind closed doors in Tokyo 2021 and without foreign spectators in Beijing 2022, in the winter edition – the Paris-2024 Games promise “gather the world” for an immense peaceful festival, according to the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

But between Ukraine and the Middle East, international events continue to contradict that ambition, with different circumstances in each conflict that highlight the relationship between politics and sports bodies.

Ukraine: two years of balancing act

Marked by the diplomatic boycott of the United States and several allies due to accusations of genocide against the Uyghur minority by the Chinese power, the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games had just extinguished their flame in the midst of a tense and charged atmosphere. controversies, when Russia invaded Ukraine with the support of Belarus, on February 24, 2022.

It was an almost impossible task for the IOC to remain faithful to its promises not to enter politics: indignation in Europe soon spread to the sporting world, while hostility towards the Russians threatened to disorganize the competitions.

Sanctioning Russia and Belarus for violating the Olympic truce did not represent a detente: for nearly two years, the anthems, flags and official representatives of the two countries have been prohibited in official competitions.

But what to do with the athletes, who did not decide or participate in the invasion and in theory are protected by the ‘nondiscrimination’ inscribed in the Olympic charter? The IOC initially excluded them from world sport for their own safety, a measure as notable as it was unprecedented. Before orchestrating his progressive return starting last March, and after authorizing his presence at the Games in December.

But with a series of conditions: the Russians and Belarusians will participate under a neutral flag, as individuals – ruled out in the team events – and will undergo double control; On the one hand, the affected federations and the IOC must establish that athletes “they have not actively supported the war in Ukraine” and that they are not under contract with the army or security agencies.

Although Ukraine has long demanded an outright exclusion of the Russians, it abandoned its threats to boycott the Games in the summer of 2023, relieving the IOC of a catastrophic prospect.

Thus, the coexistence of the delegations could be a reality, although it seems very limited: “The Russians will be few in number and very inconspicuous, especially because a part of them could refuse to come”summarizes Jean-Loup Chappelet, a specialist in Olympicism at the University of Lausanne.

Israel-Gaza: just a question of security?

After the extreme violence of the attack carried out by Hamas commandos on October 7, and after the Israeli bombings on Gaza, the IOC called on the “peace” and then he congratulated himself on his “two state solution”since the Israeli and Palestinian National Olympic Committees (NOC) have coexisted since 1995, its president Thomas Bach recalled at the end of November.

Unlike the invasion of Ukraine, the Olympic body can afford to remain “in expectation” Faced with a possible cessation of hostilities between now and the summer, Jean-Loup Chappelet estimates: “Neither the Palestinians nor the Arab states have raised the idea of ​​a boycott of the competitions”thus refraining from putting the authorities under pressure, observes the expert.

Until now, this conflict thus poses more logistical than political questions to the world of sport: the soccer authorities relocated the international matches scheduled in Israel, and the reinforced security of Israeli athletes is one more challenge for the organizers of the 2024 Olympic Games. .

“It is an aspect that is the responsibility of local authorities,” recalled Thomas Bach’s spokesman, refraining from further comment.

But everything could change if the Israeli offensive is prolonged. Last week, the Palestinian CNO announced the death of the coach of its Olympic football team Hani Al-Masdar, who died at the age of 42 in the bombings, which also targeted the High Council for Youth and Sports, the federation of football, and the Olympic committee, denouncing the blows dealt by Israel to the sports movement, which “they violate the Olympic charter.”

At the same time, the International Ice Hockey Federation multiplied the contradictory announcements in the space of a week, initially excluding the Israelis from its competitions for “ensure the safety of all participants”before limiting the measure to the U-20 World Cup in Bulgaria, and then admitting the Israeli team again.