Sports chiefs face losing battle to keep sport separate from politics

IOC president Kirsty Coventry aims to keep politics separate from sports, but Ukrainian officials and former IOC executives believe this separation is unattainable. The upcoming Youth Olympics in Dakar, Senegal, will see Ukrainian and Russian athletes compete side-by-side for the first time since 2020. Ukrainian Sports Minister Matviy Bidnyi insists that discussing the return of Russian athletes is only possible when the war ends, war crimes victims are returned, and international law is upheld.

Former IOC marketing executive Terrence Burns argues that sport has never been independent of politics, with neutrality being the true principle of the Olympic movement. While Britain boycotted sporting events Russia participated in during the 1970s and 1980s Summer Olympics, the strategy nearly destroyed the Olympic movement. However, the African boycott of the 1976 Montreal Games effectively highlighted a multilateral campaign against apartheid South Africa.

Burns warns that sport is increasingly becoming a political tool, with politicians leveraging it to sanction and decide who can and cannot participate. Despite the challenges, the past shows that sport can offer hope, such as the joint participation of North and South Korea at various international games. However, former IOC president Gianni Infantino's close relationship with US President Donald Trump has raised concerns about FIFA's neutrality, with Burns criticizing the awarding of the FIFA Peace Prize to Infantino as endorsing a political leader rather than maintaining neutrality.