IOC president brands critics of Russia ‘deplorable’ in veiled swipe at Britain

The International Olympic Committee has launched a fierce public attack on the governments of Britain and other European countries, accusing them of a "deplorable" effort to ban Russia and Belarus.

The IOC issued recommendations on Tuesday that would allow international sports federations to let Russian and Belarusian athletes back in to competitions as neutrals but the governing body will wait until at least the summer before deciding on the 2024 Olympics in Paris.

Britain has been among the most vocal members of a coalition of countries who oppose the return of Russian and Belarus and will now privately urge the IOC to engage with their concerns rather than escalate what has become a very public row.

“It is deplorable to see that some governments do not want to respect the majority within the Olympic movement and all stakeholders, nor the autonomy of sport," said IOC president Thomas Bach following a meeting of his executive board.

"It is deplorable that these governments do not address the question of double standards. We have not seen a single comment on their attitude on the participation of athletes from countries involved in the other 70 wars and armed conflicts around the world.”

The British government had convened a global meeting of sports ministers to discuss the IOC’s potential ‘pathway’ for Russia and Belarusian athletes to return to international competition and then joined a group of 35 countries, which included hosts Olympic France, the United States and Japan in arguing that a sporting ban should remain in place.

The situation further escalated earlier this month when the British government urged major Olympic sponsors such as Visa, Coca-Cola and Omega to support a continued ban.

The coalition statement did still acknowledge that Russian and Belarusian athletes could compete as neutrals, subject to strict conditions, but questioned whether this was ever feasible when they are directly funded and supported by their states. The IOC have said that athletes contracted to the military or security services cannot return, but there are concerns over whether this can be practically applied.

"Russians kill Ukrainian citizens every day," said Andriy Yermak, chief of staff to Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky.

"Hundreds of Ukrainian athletes die defending their country from the aggressor. However, the IOC prefers not to notice this. This is not fair. Injustice destroys the spirit of the Olympic movement in the same way that Russia destroys international law.”

The IOC have cited human rights concerns and advice from United Nations rapporteurs that an outright ban would be discriminatory. “It is even more deplorable that they [the governments] grossly neglect the very clear statement of the two special rapporteurs from the UN Human Rights Council,” said Bach, who also pointed out that Russia had accused the IOC of “grossly violating” both the Olympic and UN charter in its suggested restrictions.

“That both sides in this confrontation are not satisfied… might indicate that we have found some middle ground on which we can all move forward,” said Bach. "It cannot be up to the governments to decide which athletes can participate in which competition. This would be the end of world sport as we know it today.”