Sports Diplomacy Surrounding the IOC’s Response to the Russian Invasion of Ukraine: Between Political Neutrality and Peace Promotion

Abstract

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 posed a challenge to the International Olympic Committee (IOC), which maintains and upholds the norms and standards of the Olympic Movement, such as political neutrality. On this occasion observing the neutrality standard has conflicted with another important Olympic norm: to promote peace. The IOC’s stance regarding Russian and Belarusian participation in international sports competition evolved, along with the external governmental pressures imposed on the IOC. The processes and developments associated with Russian and Belarusian participation in international sport after the outbreak of the war in Ukraine reveal the motivation of the IOC and allow for identifying the communication channels between multiple stakeholders. The war in Ukraine drove some states to seek to influence international sport to follow their agenda of isolating Russia and Belarus internationally, and the IOC as a central point of a complicated diplomatic network was proactively responding to internal and external pressures.