Why did the sport ban Russia and turn a blind eye to Israel?

Sports Minister and government spokesperson Pilar Alegría was blunt this Thursday on Spanish National Radio when referring to Israel, a country in the spotlight for the daily attacks on the Palestinian population in Gaza in response to the October 7, 2023, massacre at the hands of Hamas, which left more than 1,100 dead. “The demonstrations—those that have disrupted the Vuelta—are logical. Society neither remains nor can be equidistant,” she stated.

Read also

And she went further, when asked if she thought Israel should be excluded from competitions, as was done with Russia when it invaded Ukraine, something that is being demanded, for example, in this Vuelta a España with Israel Premier Tech. "I would like and support that decision to go in the same direction."

Alegría's opinion is not new. Various sectors, not just political ones, are asking why Russia was so demanding while Israel was ignored, given that, in both cases, and with the nuances that exist, it is a forceful invasion that resulted in the deaths of civilians (including athletes).

For the time being, sport is taking a backseat. And especially the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the body with the greatest authority to measure these types of conflicts, whose decision provoked a torrent of reactions. That's exactly what happened when, on February 24, 2022, Russia decided to launch its conquest of Ukraine through the Donbas region.

Four days later, the IOC took the first step. It issued a statement urging all international federations to "do everything in their power to ensure that no Russian or Belarusian athlete can participate under the name of Russia or Belarus... They must be accepted as neutral athletes or teams. There must be no symbols, colors, flags, or anthems."

We entered with Russia by annexing areas of Ukraine, it skipped its jurisdiction” Pere Miró Former Deputy Director of the IOC

The international federations implemented the recommendations. World Aquatics banned their participation in the World Championships, as did World Athletics. The Euroleague excluded the Russian basketball teams (CSKA and Zenit). UEFA disqualified Russia from the Eurocup and its competitions, and the IOC allowed Russian and Belarusian athletes to participate in Paris as neutrals: only 15 attended. Russia appealed the decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport and, in its letter, noted that Israel had not received sanctions for a situation they considered similar. The organization supported the IOC's position. Russia remains excluded.

Pere Miró, former deputy director of the IOC, explained to this journalist after Paris 2024 why Russia and Israel cannot be compared in the eyes of the governing body. “We suspended the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) because it annexed territories that were part of the Ukrainian Olympic Committee, and that violates the Olympic Charter. We don't get involved in disputes between territories because otherwise we would be involved in many of the less talked-about areas. We try to ensure that the National Olympic Committees (NOCs) respect the rules. When we recognize a committee, it is accompanied by a map that represents its territory, its jurisdiction,” he began.

Point 28 of the Olympic Charter (section 5) states that “the territorial jurisdiction of a NOC must coincide with the boundaries of the country in which it has established its headquarters.”

“On the map,” Miró continues, “that we approved of Ukraine, the Donbas appears. And the ROC, for whatever reason, approved the inclusion of these territories on its map. And they did so because of a decision by the Duma. 'All the athletes here are mine,' they said. That violates the agreements and has violated Ukraine's rights. And that's why we suspended it,” he added. And therein lies the difference with Israel. “Its Olympic Committee has never said that Palestine is its own,” he concluded.

"Israel? Your Olympic Committee has never claimed Palestine as yours." Pere Miró Former Deputy Director of the IOC

On October 4, 2022, Russia ratified the accessions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhia to its territory, in violation of the Olympic Charter, which is the only framework to which the IOC adheres.

To date, Israel has not officially annexed any part of Palestine. Nor has it happened in two other similar conflicts that have not received sanctions, as Amnesty International sources explain: "India and Pakistan are fighting over Kashmir. And Armenia and Azerbaijan are fighting over the Nagorno-Karabakh region. But the Olympic committees have not expanded their jurisdiction as Russia has. Another latent conflict is that between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda."