Key facts
- Nine EU countries have requested the European Commission to stop funding international sports bodies that allow Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete.
- The move comes after the International Olympic Committee (IOC) provisionally lifted its suspension of the Russian Olympic Committee.
- The affected organizations include the IOC, International Fencing Federation, and World Aquatics.
- The countries argue that sport cannot be separated from politics given the ongoing war in Ukraine.
- Funding cuts are being considered for programs such as Erasmus+.
Nine European Union member states have formally requested the European Commission to cease funding international sports organizations that permit Russian and Belarusian athletes to participate in competitions. This action, detailed in a letter dated July 14, follows the International Olympic Committee's (IOC) decision on July 7 to provisionally lift its suspension of the Russian Olympic Committee, which had been in place since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
The countries—Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, and Sweden—argued in their letter to EU Commissioner Glenn Micallef that sport cannot be divorced from politics, especially when Ukrainian athletes have been directly impacted by the war, with many displaced or serving in the military. They emphasized that Russian and Belarusian regimes instrumentalize sport, making any separation from political realities hollow.
The signatories urged the Commission to consider withdrawing funding from organizations like the IOC, the International Fencing Federation, and World Aquatics under programs such as Erasmus+. They also called for these bodies to be excluded from EU-backed sports forums. The letter stated that access to EU funding should be suspended until these organizations demonstrate a renewed commitment to the values the EU promotes and defends.
The IOC's decision to ease the ban on Russia has drawn widespread criticism from Ukraine and several EU nations. Ukraine's sanctions chief, Vladyslav Vlasiuk, previously stated that as long as Russian sports serve as a tool for state propaganda and support for the war, international sports organizations should maintain the policy of isolating those promoting aggression, rather than weakening it.