The Olympic Games are going down the drain of the geopolitics

The Olympic Games that will be held in Paris in 2024 did not send invitation to Russia and Belarus for participation. The ultra Russo phobic President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Thomas Bach denied the principles of the Olympism.

The Chart of the Olympic Games states the foundation principles of the Olympism: “The enjoyment of the rights and freedoms [...] shall be secured without discrimination of any kind, such as race, color, sex, sexual orientation, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status”.?

"The practice of sport is a human right. Every individual must have the possibility of practicing sport, without discrimination of any kind and in the Olympic spirit, which requires mutual understanding with a spirit of friendship, solidarity and fair play." – Olympic Charter

When I was tracing the foundation of my first charity New York Sport Foundation in the USA I was led by the same principles that were enshrined on the website of the foundation nysport.org.

During the years we created many athletes and convinced them to lead the healthy lifestyle that otherwise they couldn’t have afforded. We gathered people from all over the world, including Russians, Ukrainians, Caribbeans, ?Argentinians, Indians, Chinese, just name who was not participating in the biggest youth sport event in NY City and in Florida.

By not inviting the biggest country participating in the OLYMPICS the IOC put and end of the Olympism as a game of non-discrimination and friendship and turns it into political field and battleground. Even when the Nazi leader Reich Führer Adolf Hitler was in power, the Olympics were held in Germany, Berlin 1936 and Hitler personally opened the games. Hitler tried to use the games to promote its politics of racism and anti-Semitism by not allowing the Jews to participate. But even the Germans didn’t deny the right of the black athlete from the United States Jesse Owens, a grandson of slaves, to participate and win 4 gold medals.

The National Association of the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) was trying to convince Owens before the Olympics not to participate because they didn’t want the American Athlete to promote the Nazi regime of Hitler. In the months before the games a movement of boycott gained momentum. ?Owens was convinced by the NAACP to declare: "If there are minorities in Germany who are being discriminated against, the United States should withdraw from the 1936 Olympics" Owens and the other American athletes finally took part in the Olympics in Nazi Germany after?Avery Brundage, the President of the American Olympic Committee branded them "un-American agitators".

In an article of Afro-American newspaper the journalist Robert Vann describes the event: “And then;… wonder of wonders;… I saw Herr Adolph Hitler, salute this lad. I looked on with a heart which beat proudly as the lad who was crowned king of the 100 meters event, get an ovation the like of which I have never heard before. I saw Jesse Owens greeted by the Grand Chancellor of this country as a brilliant sun peeped out through the clouds. I saw a vast crowd of some 85,000 or 90,000 people stand up and cheer him to the echo.”

And now is again a war time and instead to use the Olympics to promote the friendship and peace, the games turned into an ugly demonstration of geopolitical ambitions and power games. Even the Paralympics were not spared from the degradation of the movement. They will allow Russian and Belarusian athletes and related support personnel to compete in an individual neutral capacity and under certain conditions.

The reaction of the Ukraine was? formulated by Mihaylo Podolyak, adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on X, former Twitter: "Permitting participation of Russians in the Paralympic Games and youth football competitions, not expelling Russia from international institutions and organizations, not issuing arrest warrants in any jurisdiction for high-ranking officials for involvement in mass crimes, permitting international companies to trade with Russia…. prolongs the war."

As response to the IOC, Russia immediately declared the BRICKS games and sent invitations for the games that will be held from 20 to 23 June 2024, a month before the Paris games. Russian city Kazan has been chosen as host of the event of the BRICKS games, games organized by the political alliance comprising of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. And immediately after the Olympics Russia will host Friendship games in Russia with more than 5000 participants and 27 sports.

Putin always said that the big sport is part of the big politics. Here the stakes are the highest with millions people gathering in one spot and millions dollars spent. But instead the event to become a foundation for peace and friendship in the world it could turn into a beginning of a bigger division in the international organizations. What could follow? the United Nations, UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, International Monetary Fund, The World Bank. The countries from the BRICKS long time complained of the dictate of the United States in the international organizations. And they decided to rebel.