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Russia urges UN to address double standards within Olympic movement

"The historical mission and fundamental value of sports are rooted in its unifying and reconciliatory spirit," Stanislav Kovpak said, addressing the 56th session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva

GENEVA, July 1. /TASS/. The United Nations needs to do something about the discriminatory practices of the Olympic movement, Stanislav Kovpak, chief counselor at the Russian Foreign Ministry’s Department for Multilateral Human Rights Cooperation, said.

"The historical mission and fundamental value of sports are rooted in its unifying and reconciliatory spirit," the Russian diplomat said, addressing the 56th session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. "Major international sporting events, including the Olympic Games, play an important role in encouraging tolerance and respect for human rights. Everyone should have an opportunity to enjoy the same advantages and joys of sports, regardless of their ethnic and national background, political views or beliefs. Today, however, we can see the opposite situation based on a trend for political interference in sports, with some countries using alleged human rights violations as a lame excuse to call for boycotting international sporting events, while certain countries’ athletes, including Paralympians, are illegally banned from competing for their nations for political reasons," he added.

"The politically motivated suspension of a country’s national Olympic committee undermines the principles of equality and non-discrimination. Collective punishment and suspension violate obligations under the Olympic Charter, which concern the need to ensure justice and fair treatment for individuals; this also threatens the integrity and inclusiveness of the Olympic movement. Double standards, segregation and ethnicity-based discrimination pursued by the international sports leadership, including international Olympic organizations, are an affront to basic human rights. We urge the United Nations high commissioner for human rights and her office, as well as special agencies, to give this issue the attention it deserves," Kovpak added.

In February 2022, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) barred Russian and Belarusian athletes from taking part in international tournaments, citing the situation in Ukraine as the reason. In March 2023, the IOC recommended that international sports federations allow individual Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete only as neutrals, provided that they don’t demonstrate any connection to their home countries and national sports organizations. However, the IOC recommended that Russians and Belarusians should not be allowed to participate in team events.

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