Nine EU countries call for IOC to be stripped of funding over Russian athletes’ admission

Estonia, along with eight EU countries, has called on the European Commission to defund the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and international sports federations that allow Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete in international competitions.

This was reported by the Estonian Ministry of Culture.

The initiative was initiated by Estonia. The Netherlands, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, Sweden, Romania, Finland and Denmark also joined.

It is noted that the countries sent a letter to the European Commissioner for Sport, Glenn Micallef, calling for the suspension of funding under the Erasmus+ program and other EU programs for sports organizations that support the return of Russia and Belarus to international sports competitions.

In particular, we are talking about the International Olympic Committee, as well as the International Fencing Federation and the International Swimming Federation.

In addition, the authors of the appeal called for not involving Russia and Belarus in future initiatives and consultations on the development of European sports.

The letter notes that due to the full-scale war, many Ukrainian athletes were forced to leave their homes, and some of them joined the ranks of the Ukrainian Defense Forces.

“In this context, claims that sports can be separated from politics sound unconvincing when thousands of innocent Ukrainians have died and sport continues to be used by the Russian and Belarusian regimes as a tool of political influence,” the appeal says.

European countries have called on the European Commission to take measures to ensure that organizations whose activities contradict the values of the European Union do not receive financial support from the EU budget.

It was previously reported thatthe International Olympic Committee temporarily reinstated the rights of the Russian Olympic Committee.

The International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) and the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) have also relaxed or lifted restrictions on Russian athletes, while in football, sanctions against the Russian Federation remain in force.

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