Athletes from Russia must fear an entry ban to Germany if they are re-admitted to international competitions. Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser announced that corresponding visa regulations would apply. “Countries that host major sporting events are not powerless. You can control whether Russians can actually participate by issuing visas,” said the SPD politician to the newspapers of the “Funke Mediengruppe” (Monday). And further: “If we organize international competitions in Germany, then we can act accordingly. We will always act with a clear stance here.”
The International Olympic Committee (IOC), headed by Germany’s Thomas Bach, recently recommended allowing athletes from both countries to return to competitions as neutral athletes, despite Belarus’ support for a Russian war of aggression against Ukraine. The condition for this is, among other things, that the athletes do not actively support the war and that they have no connections to the military or security agencies.
A decision on their participation in the 2024 Summer Olympics is still pending. Faeser ruled out a German boycott of the competitions in Paris. “We would harm our own athletes who have worked towards this goal for a long time,” she said.
In addition to the Athletics Association, the World Equestrian Federation also recently insisted on excluding Russians and Belarusians. On the other hand, the President of the World Gymnastics Federation, Morinari Watanabe (Japan), spoke out in favor of their return and announced a decision on this in May. The Wrestling World Association also advocates the re-admission.
“Offering the warmonger Putin a propaganda stage would betray all the values of sport,” said Faeser, “It is completely unacceptable for Ukrainian athletes to face athletes who compete for a country that kills so many civilians in Ukraine .”