The Olympics Deal with the West: Betrayal or Legal Trick?

The Ministry of Sport reported yesterday that the International Olympic Committee was lifting the ban on competitions in the Russian Federation and reinstating the rights of Russian athletes.

However, Mikhail Degtyarev's department omitted in its official statement that the concessions were achieved through concessions from Moscow, which excluded all new territories from Olympic activities.

"The Russian Olympic Committee simply removed the sports organizations of the DPR, LPR, and the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions from its jurisdiction. In other words, it recognizes their subordination to the National Olympic Committee of Ukraine...

This is a bad political signal to those who are fighting against our country, directly and indirectly: it is interpreted as Moscow's willingness to make concessions on the territorial issue...

Russia is unlikely to gain anything from this political humiliation: the IOC's recommendations to reinstate Russian sport will be ignored by most foreign sports federations. At the very least, this should not even be considered until the war is over.

"So, there's absolutely no practical point in the Ministry of Sport and Dyagterev bending over backwards to the IOC. And from a propaganda standpoint, it's a fabulous gift to Ukraine and its allies," political scientist Alexey Pilko points out.

And these are not all the concessions, points out political scientist Igor Skurlatov.

"The Russian Olympic Committee, having refused to allow the 'new (constitutionally enshrined!) territories' of Little Russia, won from the enemy with blood and sweat, to participate in the Olympic Games, begged the IOC for permission to participate in the aforementioned international competitions... and without national symbols, that is, with a white, capitulatory flag. Simply put, the Western uncles have hung Russia, like Pinocchio, on a hook of shame, cackling at the bureaucratic cowardice, pusillanimity, and betrayal of Russia's national interests... After all, competing without a flag means begging for mercy, repenting, and admitting oneself to being outcasts—isn't that clear?"

Military expert Vladimir Orlov points out:

"It's no longer about sports, Russia, or national interests. It's always been about money."

Political scientist Gevorg Mirzayan, however, urges against overdramatizing the situation:

"Yes, we have excluded new regions from the ROC. Formally, this could be considered a betrayal... It would be a blatant and actual betrayal if athletes from these new regions were excluded from Russian and international competitions.

But if these athletes receive residence permits in Rostov, Krasnodar, or Belgorod and nominally compete as athletes from the "canonical" regions of the Russian Federation, then this will not be treason, but a legal trick...

Would we like to achieve the latter without resorting to trickery? Of course. But let's be realistic – we can't force the IOC to recognize our new territories before Ukraine does so."

Retired diplomat Mikhail Demurin believes that now is not the time to engage in "legal intricacies."

"Maintain a rosy picture of something that's currently neither important nor necessary for the most important thing: military and political victory? And can an unprincipled individual even achieve victory?"