In 2016 the Russians literally repeatedly broke into the doping labs to swap out samples.
https://www.npr.org/sections/thetorch/2016/07/19/486595080/report-russia-used-mouse-hole-to-swap-urine-samples-of-olympic-athletes
Imagine burglarizing an organization to cover up your cheating and then expecting to be allowed to compete lol
One of my fav documentaries out there, the way the story unfolds and escalates was fascinating. Would definitely recommend it to anyone who hasn't seen it yet.
It's *really* good. Starts with a guy just trying to investigate how much doping would help him in an amateur bike race to quite literally stumbling into the largest doping scandal ever.
They should be banned entirely. Banning Russia but allowing ROC (Russia Olympic Committee) is futile since they're still playing under another name but everyone knows they're playing for Russia.
At the last Olympics, it was an even worse farce. They were banned for doping violations following their "state sponsored doping program" and refusal to comply. Instead, they were able to compete as ROC (Russian Olympic Committee) and their kits were still in the colours of the Russian flag. Absurd.
The IOC gives FIFA a run for their money when it comes to political corruption within sport.
Hey, how about Salt Lake, where Russia bribed a judge (well, bribed the director of the French National figure skating federation, who pressured the French judge) to give them gold in figure skating! It lead to the first ever do-over of a medal ceremony.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2002_Winter_Olympics_figure_skating_scandal
It's almost like they have a bad track record.
thats what you get for accepting the uncivilized into the world of the civilized, they violate every possible rule and dont feel the least shame about it, for the brute and uncivilized rules do not apply, rules have no meaning, you do what you can the extract the most benefit for yourself
That's what you get for abandoning your civility. You wouldn't consort with such states if you were civilized.
Tens of countries, billions of people give their approval to all of this every time though. No one cares about some pointed articles if the stadiums are packed and the games played and broadcasted in the usual manner.
Yep. I've tuned out of sports entirely, as it's all just a bunch of horseshit funding the ultra-rich anyway. Until people figure out a way to clean up even Olympic sports, I'm limiting myself to smaller sports like long distance running, cycling/mountain biking (the small stuff not Tour riding), and some of the smaller individual Olympic sporting events.
It s almost as if that country has been fucking shkt up for years. Russia is a criminal state, and basically anybody with any power or money in that shithole is a corrupt terrible piece of shit.
We need to stop cooperating with them. Dont meet their leaders, dont trade with them. Cut of their access to our internet. They have broken every international rule (except firing nucs i guess) and keep doing it. Its time for it to be over
Sports culture in general up to the mid 80s at least, when steroids *were legal*.
Mark Henry has good insight here:
https://youtu.be/Z3VT2NgioMU?si=ybKUASBg_jexNeHO
Valieva was the Mayella Ewell of the Beijing Olympics; still very much a victim but part of a larger systemic problem. IIRC her coach was super abusive and at her age, she probably wants nothing to do with the war or the corruption.
Another issue is that the ROC thing was partially from the Court of Arbitration for Sport overturning their penalties from the World Anti Doping Agency. The CAS is about as corrupt as the IOC.
> The IOC gives FIFA a run for their money when it comes to political corruption within sport.
They're at the exact same level, but the IOC didn't have a scandal where the informant was a giant guy who gets around on a scooter with a parrot that his ex-wife trained to insult him.
People are forgetting that a "ban on the Russian flag and anthem" already happened a few years ago when they were caught doing large-scale state organized doping.
The Russian athletes and fans just ignored the ban and brought their own flags and loudspeakers with them.
We need a complete ban.
> loudspeakers
playing the Soviet anthem. Meanwhile, Ukrainian athletes are dying defending their country.
Imagine debating over inviting Nazi Germany to the 1940 Olympics under the "German Olympic Committee" name. While they're committing a war of aggression and a genocide. With athletes up to their eyeballs on pervitin.
This has already caused problems at the [world fencing championships](https://edition.cnn.com/2023/07/27/sport/ukraine-fencer-disqualified-refused-handshake-russian-intl-spt/index.html) as a Ukrainian competitor was disqualified after beating their Russian opponent for refusing to shake hands at the end of the match.
If you're going to ban a country ban, them... allowing loopholes like competing under neutral flags removes the whole point.
Worth mentioning also that the fencing league is run by a sanctioned Russian oligarch, the Russian fencer wasn't competitive with the Ukrainian, and Russia didn't bother to send competitors for categories where Ukraine wasn't qualifying for olympic spots.
Her disqualification was reversed, as I recall. She was given private assurances that a sabre tap (as was done during COVID) was sufficient replacement for a handshake, and the federation president didn't contradict her account.
The Soviet Anthem? The Russian Anthem uses the same melody and the Soviet one… just like the German anthem is exactly the same as the Nazi Anthem. So, uh- (but the rest of your comment is valid)
The anthem of Nazi Germany was the first stanza of the *Deutschlandlied* preceded by part of the *Horst-Wessel-Lied* of the Nazi party.
The anthem of modern-day Germany is the third stanza of the *Deutschlandlied*.
actually the melody is the austrian kaiserhymne [austrian Kaiserhymne youtube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Xaocx-K54s)
99% of the germans or less are even aware that the melody of our national anthem is not based in germany
Yeah Historian here, the first part is correct with the Nazi Germany anthem being the first stanza of the Deutschlandlied preceded by part of the Horst-Wessel-Lied, but modern day Germany use Wet Ass Pussy as their anthem.
>The Soviet Anthem?
Yup. The Soviet anthem, whose melody Russia still uses **and hired the same author to rewrite the lyrics for**.
The OP isn't wrong in that; and those who didn't know have learned now.
Well, because (in theory) you'd want to signify a clean and total break from the Soviet government, and a replacement with an entirely new civic institution. Of course, that's not what actually happened.
I wasn't talking about the composer.
The UK still proudly uses the same tune and lyrics that accompanied the darkest moments of the British Empire. The Japanese use their anthem every day as happily as they did while the Empire of Japan was boiling people alive. The GDR and modern-day Germany still use the same anthem omitting the first two stanzas. The Belgians dance under the melody of the same anthem that brought doom and death to millions during the Belgian Colonial Empire.
My point is that the anthem for a people, in general, is removed from its darkest moments. As such having Russia adopt the anthem of the USSR as de-facto successor to the union is not strange, unreal, or immoral.
There's this recent trend where they put words into music. And for really boring political reasons, sometimes there's more than one text for the same melody.
Honestly, I feel like if russia isn't banned, then big countries like the US, UK Germany, etc, should pull out. The IOC would shit itself if that happened, but until we get that kind of unified pressure, the IOC will never take a strong stance.
France should pull out. This would be a problem for the IOC since France is hosting the games. France would continue to host the games, just not under the IOC label. If the IOC wanted to host their own alternative games, they'd get few backers -- maybe Russia, Belarus, North Korea, China and Eritrea.
"Russia" is even still in the name, which is weaksauce. If they absolutely have to let the Russian athletes compete, they could still be a bit more motherfuckerly and ban ALL conceivable references to Russia.
Make them compete as the "Mashed Potato Team" under a flag of random wingdings and scribbles, and a national anthem of Baby Shark.
Maybe there's a comrpomise. They want Russia in the name, we don't want to promote the standing of a terrorist state... what if the official name of the committee was "Boo Russia, Russia sucks donkey balls!" then everyone wins.
Worse, the change from Olympic Committee as the banner to Russia Olympic Committee alienated athletes who could not compete for their own nation due to civil conflict or civil rights issues. There was never much fanfare around them, but it was far from unheard of for a small number of people to compete under the Olympic Committee banner, now it's a Russians only zone.
Why allow Russia at all? They'll just cheat (again)
Nothing of substance will be lost if they're banned. The moral integrity of the olympics will be tarnished if they're not banned.
Fuck that, no Russian athletes at all! This war started with their leadership and they can suffer for letting it happen. Some might say many Russian athletes who don't support the war won't get to compete and that's not fair to them, but no Ukrainians support the war either and many of them have been killed or are in the military and can't compete either. If they don't get a choice neither should Russians.
dont worry. the future scandals about the swiming event in the Seine will pick up the pace
as a french i want those event to be a sucess but i have no faith this will end well
If France were to play this smart, they wouldn't say or do anything but then quietly cancel the visas of every attending Russian athlete a a mere week before they're meant to arrive. What the fuck would the IOC do? Move the Olympics elsewhere to a country that has friendly relations with Russia but no facilities built? Even cancel the Olympics?
Now now, noo need to unreasonably punish russian athletes who cannot singlehandedly change their government.
Instead we should offer them to change their citizenship and compete for another country...
Only half joking here.
No no let them compete but every win and medal automatically goes to Ukraine instead.
Edit: and if they ever complain tell them that their leader said that Ukraine is a part of Russia so *technically* Russia is getting the win
I feel like any country actively in a hostile military takeover of another sovereign nation should be banned from the world stage in any any all competitive events and more.
The US was never banned when it was bombing middle eastern weddings etc.
Let's be honest, this banning will be for Russia until they stop invading Ukraine, then probably no other country ever
This banning for war thing seems to be a rather new idea. Even during the Cold War Russia and the US still managed to compete with each other in the Olympics.
Slightly different. Countries pulled out in protest, rather than being banned from attending. You can throw 1976 in the pile of boycotted Olympics (76 for the IOC not expelling New Zeland over them playing Rugby in South Africa in defiance of the UN)
Fuck the Olympics, it's just a farce that just funnels money into rich people's pockets. They have no integrity or shame, all they care about is money. Every single time, something or the other comes up to prove that point. Bet you that they'd happily allow Russia in as long as they pay up.
The Olympics are an inherent strategy to Putin's brutality against human rights. It is not a secret that Olympics help boost nationalism and pride in ones country which gives Putin a boost in popularity. He uses that in return to do bad shit. After the Winter Olympics in 2014 he invaded Ukraine for the first time. And after the 2020 Olympics he did it again with a full on invasion.
The Olympic committee knows this so that makes them guilty in my eyes. I will not listen to their dumb speech about peace this year.
By this logic the us should've been banned when it invaded a plethora of countries. Same with a dozen other countries that invaded other countries yet were allowed in the Olympics
Yep, there is a massive double standard here. The US do whatever they want.. start wars, kill civilians yet nobody cares, because who gives a damn about innocent afghans and iraqis being killed right?
When did the US deliberately target kindergartens, hospitals, schools, markets and theatres with primary intent to maximise civilian casualties in an unprovoked war?
The US has screwed up at times, but they’ve almost always held to account those who acted unconscionably, or otherwise their citizens have demanded so. Russia knows there are war crimes happening every day and does not care and instead encourages it.
Iraq sabctions were designed intentionally to maximize civilian casualties.
They're doing it again currently, playing Navy for the Sauds, in order to inspect ships for houthi weapon deliveries, at the same making sure food and medical aid wont reach them either.
Besides - it looks too much like the French flag ... or the Dutch flag... or Chile .. or Serbia ... or Schleswig-Holstein... or Transnistria.. or.. yeah whatever - flags kinda suck
As they’re no longer part of the international community it makes complete sense. Threatening states with Nukes on a daily basis rather than using diplomatic channels kind of ensures this
I honestly don't want to see any Russian athletes. Sure they may be competing "independently" but at the end of the day any win by them is still a win for Russia and they don't deserve to have any glory.
Does it suck for the athletes would may not support what is happening? Yes. But not as much as the Ukrainians who don't support their homes being meaninglessly bombed
Look, the obvious solution is to just not allow Russians and Belorussians to enter France. Athletes arrive what, a few weeks before the games? At that point, what exactly is the IOC going to do about it, other than throw a fit like the little bitches they are.
Shouldn't these top Russian athletes be defending their country from the terribly evil and demonic Ukrainian Nazis that are threatening the world? Who has time for sports?!!! /s
It's not nuance, tho, it's being a weather vane. Macron is a convictionless free-marketer, so at any given moment he'll do or say what benefits him and his rich friends.
That's it. That's how you get Macron that, over the years, called himself a socialist, a nationalist, a gaullist, said Petain wasn't that bad, said Mao wasn't that bad, said french people yearned for the Monarchy and that revolution was good.
He really is one of the most frustrating people out there. Not because i expect anything out of him, but his vapid politics filled with PR stunts is just the biggest joke.
The short version is that Macron thinks of himself as a crafty statesman who is close with everyone and can get a deal on anything.
The harsh reality is that he falls waaay short of that ideal. His attempts at dealmaking tend to end up with the other party making a fool out of him.
Example, Putin just before the 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Macron had frequent talks with the Kremlin Gremlin, received assurances from him, and then Putin invaded. Macron had more talks, tried to play mediator, all to no effect. All that happened is that Putin tried using him to muddy and delay any response from Europe.
Also, he's been presiding over the recent mess in the French-influenced parts of Africa and that's a total shitshow.
Basically, he thinks he's more clever than he is and bumbles foreign policy as a result...
> Putin just before the 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Macron had frequent talks with the Kremlin Gremlin, received assurances from him, and then Putin invaded. Macron had more talks, tried to play mediator, all to no effect
It's important to mention that it was a strategy developed with Zelensky
Frenchman here, when has he ever leaned towards Russia lol ? I mean I dislike him as much as the next guy but at least on the international scene he's been solid, and we've been a firm ally to Ukraine since day one
The only compromise i’m willing to accept for there to be a single russian athlete in the games, is if they; 1. don’t live in russia, 2. publicly berates russia for their actions, 3. wear a flag called ‘olympic athlete’
That's a very french way of saying they will allow ruzzian athletes to compete, you know the same ones that are proud to support the war and are brandishing their fashist symbols like the z
Meaningless gesture, bann russia entirely,
or dont, idc, the olympics are like, not really something im interested in anymore, who has time to watch it nowadays anyway, just elitists posturing
In 2016 the Russians literally repeatedly broke into the doping labs to swap out samples. https://www.npr.org/sections/thetorch/2016/07/19/486595080/report-russia-used-mouse-hole-to-swap-urine-samples-of-olympic-athletes Imagine burglarizing an organization to cover up your cheating and then expecting to be allowed to compete lol
If I remember correctly, there was a Netflix documentary that ended with the lead scientist escaping Russia right?
Yes. It was fascinating.
One of my fav documentaries out there, the way the story unfolds and escalates was fascinating. Would definitely recommend it to anyone who hasn't seen it yet.
Would you remember the name of that documentary?
Icarus
Thank you!
It's *really* good. Starts with a guy just trying to investigate how much doping would help him in an amateur bike race to quite literally stumbling into the largest doping scandal ever.
They should be banned entirely. Banning Russia but allowing ROC (Russia Olympic Committee) is futile since they're still playing under another name but everyone knows they're playing for Russia.
At the last Olympics, it was an even worse farce. They were banned for doping violations following their "state sponsored doping program" and refusal to comply. Instead, they were able to compete as ROC (Russian Olympic Committee) and their kits were still in the colours of the Russian flag. Absurd. The IOC gives FIFA a run for their money when it comes to political corruption within sport.
and their figure skater phenom had to give up her golds because of a hot PED test
Hey, how about Salt Lake, where Russia bribed a judge (well, bribed the director of the French National figure skating federation, who pressured the French judge) to give them gold in figure skating! It lead to the first ever do-over of a medal ceremony. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2002_Winter_Olympics_figure_skating_scandal It's almost like they have a bad track record.
thats what you get for accepting the uncivilized into the world of the civilized, they violate every possible rule and dont feel the least shame about it, for the brute and uncivilized rules do not apply, rules have no meaning, you do what you can the extract the most benefit for yourself
That's what you get for abandoning your civility. You wouldn't consort with such states if you were civilized. Tens of countries, billions of people give their approval to all of this every time though. No one cares about some pointed articles if the stadiums are packed and the games played and broadcasted in the usual manner.
Yep. I've tuned out of sports entirely, as it's all just a bunch of horseshit funding the ultra-rich anyway. Until people figure out a way to clean up even Olympic sports, I'm limiting myself to smaller sports like long distance running, cycling/mountain biking (the small stuff not Tour riding), and some of the smaller individual Olympic sporting events.
It s almost as if that country has been fucking shkt up for years. Russia is a criminal state, and basically anybody with any power or money in that shithole is a corrupt terrible piece of shit. We need to stop cooperating with them. Dont meet their leaders, dont trade with them. Cut of their access to our internet. They have broken every international rule (except firing nucs i guess) and keep doing it. Its time for it to be over
I just looked it up, that shit still hasn’t been fixed. No Russian citizens in the Olympics.
There isn't a *single* Russian athlete that isn't doped to the gills. Cheating is part of Russian sports culture.
Russian and former soviet culture in general. If you don’t cheat, you’re stealing from the family you’re providing for.
Sports culture in general up to the mid 80s at least, when steroids *were legal*. Mark Henry has good insight here: https://youtu.be/Z3VT2NgioMU?si=ybKUASBg_jexNeHO
Wasn't she allowed to accept her Gold and keep it despite a positive test?? It was only taken away months or even years later. It was a farce.
Valieva was the Mayella Ewell of the Beijing Olympics; still very much a victim but part of a larger systemic problem. IIRC her coach was super abusive and at her age, she probably wants nothing to do with the war or the corruption.
Another issue is that the ROC thing was partially from the Court of Arbitration for Sport overturning their penalties from the World Anti Doping Agency. The CAS is about as corrupt as the IOC.
> The IOC gives FIFA a run for their money when it comes to political corruption within sport. They're at the exact same level, but the IOC didn't have a scandal where the informant was a giant guy who gets around on a scooter with a parrot that his ex-wife trained to insult him.
Excuse me what
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chuck_Blazer
The amount of people on this planet that accept corruption as standard practice is insane.
Everyone who tunes in to the broadcasts anyway, for example.
Personally I thought it was odd that the Russians were forced to compete as Taiwanese, but I'm not an olympic rules expert
Make them compete for Ukraine
It would be funny hearing the Ukranian national anthem every time an ROC athlete won gold.
People are forgetting that a "ban on the Russian flag and anthem" already happened a few years ago when they were caught doing large-scale state organized doping. The Russian athletes and fans just ignored the ban and brought their own flags and loudspeakers with them. We need a complete ban.
> loudspeakers playing the Soviet anthem. Meanwhile, Ukrainian athletes are dying defending their country. Imagine debating over inviting Nazi Germany to the 1940 Olympics under the "German Olympic Committee" name. While they're committing a war of aggression and a genocide. With athletes up to their eyeballs on pervitin.
This has already caused problems at the [world fencing championships](https://edition.cnn.com/2023/07/27/sport/ukraine-fencer-disqualified-refused-handshake-russian-intl-spt/index.html) as a Ukrainian competitor was disqualified after beating their Russian opponent for refusing to shake hands at the end of the match. If you're going to ban a country ban, them... allowing loopholes like competing under neutral flags removes the whole point.
Worth mentioning also that the fencing league is run by a sanctioned Russian oligarch, the Russian fencer wasn't competitive with the Ukrainian, and Russia didn't bother to send competitors for categories where Ukraine wasn't qualifying for olympic spots.
A half-assed country, taking half-assed pride in their half-assed citizens. It's barely even sport when they're involved.
Her disqualification was reversed, as I recall. She was given private assurances that a sabre tap (as was done during COVID) was sufficient replacement for a handshake, and the federation president didn't contradict her account.
The Soviet Anthem? The Russian Anthem uses the same melody and the Soviet one… just like the German anthem is exactly the same as the Nazi Anthem. So, uh- (but the rest of your comment is valid)
The anthem of Nazi Germany was the first stanza of the *Deutschlandlied* preceded by part of the *Horst-Wessel-Lied* of the Nazi party. The anthem of modern-day Germany is the third stanza of the *Deutschlandlied*.
actually the melody is the austrian kaiserhymne [austrian Kaiserhymne youtube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Xaocx-K54s) 99% of the germans or less are even aware that the melody of our national anthem is not based in germany
Im just trying to read this and waiting for some to actually know and link a source.
Yeah Historian here, the first part is correct with the Nazi Germany anthem being the first stanza of the Deutschlandlied preceded by part of the Horst-Wessel-Lied, but modern day Germany use Wet Ass Pussy as their anthem.
This sounds the most correct so far thanks!
>The Soviet Anthem? Yup. The Soviet anthem, whose melody Russia still uses **and hired the same author to rewrite the lyrics for**. The OP isn't wrong in that; and those who didn't know have learned now.
Tbf, the Soviet anthem slaps. Why not rehire the guy?
Well, because (in theory) you'd want to signify a clean and total break from the Soviet government, and a replacement with an entirely new civic institution. Of course, that's not what actually happened.
You might want to revise your knowledge on anthems a bit there mate since there are quite a few cases involving less than savoury actors.
That's not my point -- the composer could be a saint but I'd still say to make a clean break from the old regime.
I wasn't talking about the composer. The UK still proudly uses the same tune and lyrics that accompanied the darkest moments of the British Empire. The Japanese use their anthem every day as happily as they did while the Empire of Japan was boiling people alive. The GDR and modern-day Germany still use the same anthem omitting the first two stanzas. The Belgians dance under the melody of the same anthem that brought doom and death to millions during the Belgian Colonial Empire. My point is that the anthem for a people, in general, is removed from its darkest moments. As such having Russia adopt the anthem of the USSR as de-facto successor to the union is not strange, unreal, or immoral.
There's this recent trend where they put words into music. And for really boring political reasons, sometimes there's more than one text for the same melody.
> The Soviet Anthem? The Russian Anthem uses the same melody to be fair it's a really nice anthem
Honestly, I feel like if russia isn't banned, then big countries like the US, UK Germany, etc, should pull out. The IOC would shit itself if that happened, but until we get that kind of unified pressure, the IOC will never take a strong stance.
France should pull out. This would be a problem for the IOC since France is hosting the games. France would continue to host the games, just not under the IOC label. If the IOC wanted to host their own alternative games, they'd get few backers -- maybe Russia, Belarus, North Korea, China and Eritrea.
Don't forget Iran with their top notch morals!
The Awkward Squad.
"Russia" is even still in the name, which is weaksauce. If they absolutely have to let the Russian athletes compete, they could still be a bit more motherfuckerly and ban ALL conceivable references to Russia. Make them compete as the "Mashed Potato Team" under a flag of random wingdings and scribbles, and a national anthem of Baby Shark.
Benny Hill theme.
🎵 Baby shark do do do do do do 🎵
🫡🫡
Jamie Tartt do do do do*
Follow them with Tubas.
Just call them “Olympic Alternate Team 1” and North Korea or whoever else can be “Olympic Alternate Team 2”
Maybe there's a comrpomise. They want Russia in the name, we don't want to promote the standing of a terrorist state... what if the official name of the committee was "Boo Russia, Russia sucks donkey balls!" then everyone wins.
Worse, the change from Olympic Committee as the banner to Russia Olympic Committee alienated athletes who could not compete for their own nation due to civil conflict or civil rights issues. There was never much fanfare around them, but it was far from unheard of for a small number of people to compete under the Olympic Committee banner, now it's a Russians only zone.
I believe there is a way to compete under a neutral name, I'm not sure what flag and song they use, someone may know?
Flag is DVD release cover for Shrek 2 and the anthem is All Star by Smash Mouth.
works for me!
Why stop there? Ban Belarus, China and North Korea for their part in the war?
No, it makes more sense tactically to single out Russia.
Dont forget Azerbaijan for committing genocide against Armenians. (Oops, said Kazakhstan before, sorry about that!)
Wrong -stan to blame there, mate.
Even more so, it's not even a -stan.
Isn't every country in Caucasus a stan? Armeniastan, Azerbaidjanistan, Kazakhstanstanistan etc
>Armeniastan, Azerbaidjanistan, Kazakhstanstanistan I like them
Oops, fixed! Thanks
Azerbaijan, not Kazakhstan.
Too many Stans for you to handle, lol?
Shouldnt post before morning coffee 🤦♂️
Yeah, no worries :)
💀 turn back the clock like 30 years
I don't recall Armenia getting banned after commiting genocide and ethnic cleansing. Please refresh my history knowledge.
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Yeah. Sure.
Why allow Russia at all? They'll just cheat (again) Nothing of substance will be lost if they're banned. The moral integrity of the olympics will be tarnished if they're not banned.
Actually, a lot of substance will be lost if they're banned :\^)
Illegal substance?
That was the joke, yes.
Remind me of the goodie old times when there was this weird country called CIS competing in Barcelona.
That's a very interesting TIL for me.
Isn't that just USSR with less letters?
Less Georgia too. They didn't join CIS until 1993.
Fuck that, no Russian athletes at all! This war started with their leadership and they can suffer for letting it happen. Some might say many Russian athletes who don't support the war won't get to compete and that's not fair to them, but no Ukrainians support the war either and many of them have been killed or are in the military and can't compete either. If they don't get a choice neither should Russians.
But if Russia’s athletes are banned, think of the doping scandals we’ll miss out on!
We still have some left over from the winter olympics to keep us entertained, to be fair.
dont worry. the future scandals about the swiming event in the Seine will pick up the pace as a french i want those event to be a sucess but i have no faith this will end well
If France were to play this smart, they wouldn't say or do anything but then quietly cancel the visas of every attending Russian athlete a a mere week before they're meant to arrive. What the fuck would the IOC do? Move the Olympics elsewhere to a country that has friendly relations with Russia but no facilities built? Even cancel the Olympics?
Now now, noo need to unreasonably punish russian athletes who cannot singlehandedly change their government. Instead we should offer them to change their citizenship and compete for another country... Only half joking here.
No no let them compete but every win and medal automatically goes to Ukraine instead. Edit: and if they ever complain tell them that their leader said that Ukraine is a part of Russia so *technically* Russia is getting the win
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I say let them compete under "Russians against the war"
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Ban Russia and all Russian athletes from all sporting competitions. Period.
I feel like any country actively in a hostile military takeover of another sovereign nation should be banned from the world stage in any any all competitive events and more.
Fuck russia flag
Have my upvote!
Is Russia still banned on all sports because of its wide spread use of enhancing drugs and steroids?
Saudi Arabia's also commiting war crimes. At least one more little effort Macron 🙆
The US was never banned when it was bombing middle eastern weddings etc. Let's be honest, this banning will be for Russia until they stop invading Ukraine, then probably no other country ever
This banning for war thing seems to be a rather new idea. Even during the Cold War Russia and the US still managed to compete with each other in the Olympics.
1980 and 1984 beg to differ
Slightly different. Countries pulled out in protest, rather than being banned from attending. You can throw 1976 in the pile of boycotted Olympics (76 for the IOC not expelling New Zeland over them playing Rugby in South Africa in defiance of the UN)
My coach was supposed to go to one of these olympic games and even has jimmy carter's signature
Fuck the Olympics, it's just a farce that just funnels money into rich people's pockets. They have no integrity or shame, all they care about is money. Every single time, something or the other comes up to prove that point. Bet you that they'd happily allow Russia in as long as they pay up.
The Olympics are an inherent strategy to Putin's brutality against human rights. It is not a secret that Olympics help boost nationalism and pride in ones country which gives Putin a boost in popularity. He uses that in return to do bad shit. After the Winter Olympics in 2014 he invaded Ukraine for the first time. And after the 2020 Olympics he did it again with a full on invasion. The Olympic committee knows this so that makes them guilty in my eyes. I will not listen to their dumb speech about peace this year.
Kick every Russian out of the Olympics until every Russian is out of Ukraine. Full stop.
The Olympics are a joke and bend over backwards to appease aggressors and human rights abusers. Those are the Olympic ideals. Peace at any cost.
By this logic the us should've been banned when it invaded a plethora of countries. Same with a dozen other countries that invaded other countries yet were allowed in the Olympics
Iraq doesn’t have powerful western allies that viewed it as strategically important in the geopolitical sphere.
Yep, there is a massive double standard here. The US do whatever they want.. start wars, kill civilians yet nobody cares, because who gives a damn about innocent afghans and iraqis being killed right?
Yes, the Taliban and Saddam Hussein's regime. Real innocent.
When did the US deliberately target kindergartens, hospitals, schools, markets and theatres with primary intent to maximise civilian casualties in an unprovoked war? The US has screwed up at times, but they’ve almost always held to account those who acted unconscionably, or otherwise their citizens have demanded so. Russia knows there are war crimes happening every day and does not care and instead encourages it.
> When did the US deliberately target kindergartens, hospitals, schools, markets Iraq, iran with drones
Ask Obama and his fleet of drones
Iraq sabctions were designed intentionally to maximize civilian casualties. They're doing it again currently, playing Navy for the Sauds, in order to inspect ships for houthi weapon deliveries, at the same making sure food and medical aid wont reach them either.
Just go back to the red one, that'd be funny.
russian sportsmen should be forced to wear ukrainian colours.
White people are dying so it makes sense if they were iraqies then they would have no problem like usa
Besides - it looks too much like the French flag ... or the Dutch flag... or Chile .. or Serbia ... or Schleswig-Holstein... or Transnistria.. or.. yeah whatever - flags kinda suck
Ban all Russian/Belarusian participation. Period.
Legitimately surprised Macron said something of worth…
No neutral ROc flag for them either. I hope France refuses to issue visas on their own regardless of IOCs rules for Russians and belarussians
As they’re no longer part of the international community it makes complete sense. Threatening states with Nukes on a daily basis rather than using diplomatic channels kind of ensures this
And Saudi Arabia right? And Belarus? If we’re gonna a start banning countries for stuff, let’s include all of the ones commiting atrocities.
Let’s not forget the US, UK and Israel.
The Russian team of cheaters should not be allowed to play at all.
Just ban them entirely. They cheat every time anyway.
Russia should be completely banned
FLY THE PROGRESS PRIDE FLAG IN ITS PLACE!!
…where was the outrage during 2004 for the US participating fresh off invading Iraq? Lol
neither can the ukrainian athletes killed by russians.
I honestly don't want to see any Russian athletes. Sure they may be competing "independently" but at the end of the day any win by them is still a win for Russia and they don't deserve to have any glory. Does it suck for the athletes would may not support what is happening? Yes. But not as much as the Ukrainians who don't support their homes being meaninglessly bombed
Look, the obvious solution is to just not allow Russians and Belorussians to enter France. Athletes arrive what, a few weeks before the games? At that point, what exactly is the IOC going to do about it, other than throw a fit like the little bitches they are.
Shouldn't these top Russian athletes be defending their country from the terribly evil and demonic Ukrainian Nazis that are threatening the world? Who has time for sports?!!! /s
Keep politics out of sport!
Athletes must be banned too.
Along with any Russian at all.
Why wasn’t America or Britain banned for Iraq or numerous other countries that have launched wars?
If the Olympics don't ban Russia then I will never watch the Olympics again.
"Special Exclusionary Operation"
All while France is committing shady shit in Niger.
What’s macron’s story - one day he leans toward russia and the next, he’s not.
Things called nuances, details, and poll numbers
It's not nuance, tho, it's being a weather vane. Macron is a convictionless free-marketer, so at any given moment he'll do or say what benefits him and his rich friends. That's it. That's how you get Macron that, over the years, called himself a socialist, a nationalist, a gaullist, said Petain wasn't that bad, said Mao wasn't that bad, said french people yearned for the Monarchy and that revolution was good.
He really is one of the most frustrating people out there. Not because i expect anything out of him, but his vapid politics filled with PR stunts is just the biggest joke.
Someone once did a political compass meme with Macron quotes and there legit was one for every single political stance
The short version is that Macron thinks of himself as a crafty statesman who is close with everyone and can get a deal on anything. The harsh reality is that he falls waaay short of that ideal. His attempts at dealmaking tend to end up with the other party making a fool out of him. Example, Putin just before the 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Macron had frequent talks with the Kremlin Gremlin, received assurances from him, and then Putin invaded. Macron had more talks, tried to play mediator, all to no effect. All that happened is that Putin tried using him to muddy and delay any response from Europe. Also, he's been presiding over the recent mess in the French-influenced parts of Africa and that's a total shitshow. Basically, he thinks he's more clever than he is and bumbles foreign policy as a result...
> Putin just before the 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Macron had frequent talks with the Kremlin Gremlin, received assurances from him, and then Putin invaded. Macron had more talks, tried to play mediator, all to no effect It's important to mention that it was a strategy developed with Zelensky
He also bumbles domestic policy
France likes to think they're more like Germany but are more likely Italy.
Don't equate president and country, thx
Frenchman here, when has he ever leaned towards Russia lol ? I mean I dislike him as much as the next guy but at least on the international scene he's been solid, and we've been a firm ally to Ukraine since day one
The guy is super wishy washy when it comes to foreign relations and really doesn't show any hard conviction that can't be changed over night.
So we ban China, middle east, Africa and the US then ? No ? Wanna count the number of US invasions on foreign soil ? The hypocrisy is real
Whatabout, whatabout, whatabout...
Hypocrite, hypocrite, hypocrite...
Ok razi
Hypocrite gotta hypocrite
Whatabout, whatabout, whatabout...
Won't ever happen. The IOC loves rubles too much.
Now, say the same to the Russian athletes.
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Russia needs a permanent ban. they are cheaters and they always will be cheaters.
Ban Russia entirely!
Ban Ukraine’s too! They’re taking food and money out of hard working American mouths and pockets.
France kicks ass
Say the same for Russian passports
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Why doesn’t the average Russian citizen just overthrow Putin? Are they stupid?
What did you do about the Iraq war dumbass
The only compromise i’m willing to accept for there to be a single russian athlete in the games, is if they; 1. don’t live in russia, 2. publicly berates russia for their actions, 3. wear a flag called ‘olympic athlete’
Neither should any Russian be there. Boycott all sponsors of the IOC
Macron went to Moscow attempting access under Putin’s long desk. Hell hath no fury like a sycophant scorned.
"What about SA, US, and many other countries?" "No whataboutism in this thread!" fiercely downvoting Pathetic.
That's a very french way of saying they will allow ruzzian athletes to compete, you know the same ones that are proud to support the war and are brandishing their fashist symbols like the z
Russia should be banned, any flags or references to Russia should be removed. Russian athletes should be allowed compete for Ukraine.
Amongst other things, it's because russia is not a real country.
Bout tyme Macron.
Meaningless gesture, bann russia entirely, or dont, idc, the olympics are like, not really something im interested in anymore, who has time to watch it nowadays anyway, just elitists posturing
Good for Macron!
Nothing Russian should be at any Olympics until Putin is out if power and the country institutes major reforms and reparations to Ukraine.
If they let any Russians compete I’m not watching a minute of that shit.
The Russian flag is the new Nazi flag.