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| Although Russia’s circumstances are different from Yugoslavia’s, Mallon thinks it is timely to dust off the playbook used to handle the situation 28 years ago and occasionally since |
Clean Russian athletes should be allowed to compete in individual events at this yearโs Tokyo Games under the banner of โIndependent Olympic Participants,โ historian Bill Mallon suggests.
It is a designation used for athletes from Yugoslavia in 1992, and one that Mallon thinks offers a good road map of how to issue Russia a meaningful punishment without imposing a blanket ban.
The 1992 designation for what was then known as the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, composed of Serbia and Montenegro after the breakup of socialist Yugoslavia, was due to its role as aggressor in the Balkan war, while Russiaโs potential ban from Tokyo stems from doping violations.
Some Russian athletes were allowed to compete at the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Games under the designation โOlympic Athlete from Russia,โ a punishment by the International Olympic Committee for โsystematic manipulationโ of the anti-doping system in Sochi four years previously.
But the semi-ban in 2018 did not go far enough, because of the explicit reference to โRussiaโ in the official designation, says Mallon, a past president of the International Society of Olympic Historians.
The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has banned Russia from Tokyo as punishment for manipulating doping tests, but has left the door open for clean athletes to compete if they meet rigid criteria laid out by the agency.
Although Russiaโs circumstances are different from Yugoslaviaโs, Mallon thinks it is timely to dust off the playbook used to handle the situation 28 years ago and occasionally since.
โIf it was up to me, I think they should do what they did in โ92 with Yugoslavia,โ he said in a phone interview with Reuters on Wednesday. โBecause of the Balkan war (in 1992), there was a U.N. resolution that Yugoslavia was banned from international events, not just sports.
โTechnically they couldnโt compete at the Olympics, so the IOC had Yugoslavia compete as โInternational Olympic Participants.’โ
โThat was their only designation. Their country wasnโt mentioned, their flag wasnโt used or mentioned and they only competed in individual events. They couldnโt have any team competition, not even a two-man rowing team.โ
A handful of competitors from various countries in subsequent Olympics in 2000, 2012 and 2016 also competed as โIndividual Olympic Athletesโ for various reasons.
But Mallon believes allowing a repeat of the 2018 designation of allowing Russian Olympians to compete as โInternational athlete from Russiaโ is too generous, especially if participation is allowed in team sports.
โYou donโt let the name Russia be seen and you donโt let teams compete,โ he said. โThatโs what I think they should do.โ
REUTERS
