World Athletics strives to ‘remain politically neutral’ during conflicts, says Sebastian Coe

CNN
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World Athletics president Sebastian Coe said the organization strives to “remain as politically neutral” as possible when dealing with the impact of global conflicts and geopolitics on sport.

Athletes from Russia and Belarus have been excluded from competitions organized by World Athletics, the world governing body for track and field, since March 2022, and similar sports sanctions have been imposed on Israeli athletes amid the war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip. There are growing calls for the imposition of .

But Mr Coe said he viewed Russia’s war in Ukraine as a “completely different situation” than the Israel-Gaza conflict, explaining: “We have to deal with what is in front of us.”

Coe told CNN Sports’ Amanda Davis ahead of the World Indoor Championships in Glasgow, Scotland. “We are not the United Nations. We are not a political organization. We are an international sports federation.

“My responsibility is to ensure that our sport remains global and to remain as politically neutral as possible, although not always possible.

“But then we take a stand. We took a stand against Russia and Belarus…Although we recognize that whenever we make a political judgment, we are setting a precedent. , I think we need to address those issues as they arise.”

Mr Coe, a 1,500m gold medalist at the 1980 and 1984 Olympics, is a former British Conservative Party member, then a member of the House of Lords, and retired from the House of Lords on 31 January 2022. .

According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, more than 30,200 people have been killed in the enclave since the Israeli-Hamas war began in October.

With the death toll rising, sports organizations and lawmakers are calling for sanctions to be imposed on Israeli athletes.

Last month, 26 French MPs called The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has called for imposing sanctions on Israeli athletes similar to those imposed on athletes from Russia and Belarus.

Prior to that, 12 Middle Eastern football associations called on FIFA to suspend the Israeli national football team and urged the governing body to take a firm stand against the atrocities committed in Palestine and war crimes in Gaza. I asked him to take a stance.

CNN has requested responses from the Israeli National Olympic Committee, FIFA and the IOC.

“We have to deal with what’s in front of us,” Coe said of World Athletics’ position on Israel’s participation in athletics competitions. “And at this point it’s up to other organizations to make some decisions.

“We will continue to look at this issue, as we always do with sport in general and with many issues, and that’s for the future. But for now, the most important thing we can do is is to ensure the preservation of sport as far as possible even under unbearably difficult circumstances.”

World Athletics’ current ban means track and field athletes from Russia and Belarus will be unable to compete at this year’s Paris Olympics. The IOC has said each federation will have the first say on whether athletes from these countries can qualify. For the game.

This stance has been welcomed by Ukrainian athletes, who argue that Russia’s participation in sporting events will only strengthen the country’s “propaganda apparatus.”

However, the IOC has created a path for athletes from Russia and Belarus to compete in this year’s games, provided they compete as neutral athletes and meet certain eligibility requirements.

Asked whether World Athletics’ ban on Russians and Belarusians would be reviewed, Coe said: “In fact, we have a small working group that will look at the circumstances that would be necessary to lift that exclusion. It exists.”

“At the moment there doesn’t seem to be much of a difference. The issues surrounding the integrity of the competition have not changed. In fact, if anything, the situation has gotten worse. Therefore, we will not close our doors. would never do that. It’s important to monitor.”