Olympics 2024: IOC wants to gather 'the whole world' (Thomas Bach to AFP)

Despite conflicts and security risks, the International Olympic Committee wants to gather “the whole world” during the Paris Games, after two editions that were overshadowed by the pandemic, its president Thomas Bach explained in an exclusive interview with AFP.

Since the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics, the elite of international sports had only known deserted Olympic stands, at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, or without a foreign audience, at the 2022 Beijing Olympics, for games dampened by the health bubble.

“However, the Olympic spirit lives on from the fact that the whole world comes together and that spectators can encourage athletes from all over the world,” insisted the German leader, interviewed on Friday at the IOC headquarters in Lausanne.

Confiding in the French authorities’ “very meticulous, very professional approach”, he promised an opening ceremony “unforgettable for the athletes”, who must parade on the Seine on July 26, in a unique setting in the heart of the capital.

“Everyone will be safe,” assured the head of Olympism, refraining from commenting on the “plans B and C” mentioned by the French president in case of a threat of attack, either a possible retreat to the Trocadéro or to the Stade de France.

No “Z” on the pallets

From Ukraine to Russia via Israel, Palestine and Afghanistan, the Olympic high fair will bring together athletes from every nation, a result far from being achieved as threats of boycott and exclusion characterized the preparations.

Russians and Belarusians will be a few dozen at most, without an anthem or flag, but “we welcome the presence of neutral individual athletes who agree with the peaceful mission of the Olympic Games” – therefore not actively supporting the Russian war in Ukraine – , recalls Thomas Bach.

However, political demonstrations remain banned from the fields and podiums, and if a Russian athlete waved a flag or drew the “Z” symbol of the invasion, “a disciplinary procedure would be opened” that could go as far as immediate expulsion from the Games, the leader warned .

If the IOC had reacted immediately to the Ukrainian conflict, banning the Russians from world sport for more than a year, Thomas Bach estimated that “the situation between Israel and Palestine (was) completely different” and would not have demanded any sporting sanctions.

“There is no violation of the Olympic Charter, either by the Israeli National Olympic Committee (NOC) or the Palestinian NOC,” the Bavarian lawyer argued, while the Russian NOC had placed the sports organizations under its control of four occupied Ukrainians. regions.

At least six Palestinians

Thomas Bach, who last week received the president of the Palestinian NOC Jibril Rajoub, promises for his part to resort to Olympic “invitations” if the Palestinian athletes do not pass the classical qualifications, so that there are at least “six or eight” in Paris despite the scale of the destruction and the intensity of the conflict in Gaza.

The 70-year-old leader also considers himself “very confident” about the possibilities of getting a mixed Afghan delegation, while the IOC has chosen to maintain the dialogue with the Taliban on the condition that they allow the athletes to train and participate in competitions.

“Since the first day, we have done everything we can,” pleaded the IOC chief, recalling his mobilization in the summer of 2021 to obtain humanitarian visas – “especially for the athletes, but also for the officials who supported women’s participation in Afghan sports” – and help their beneficiaries leave Afghanistan, “with the help of Qatar”.

Asked about the 23 Chinese swimmers who tested positive at the start of 2021 without being sanctioned, he said he had “full confidence in the World Anti-Doping Agency”, which “followed the rules” when they accepted the Chinese authorities’ theory of contamination. . eats.

For him, there is “no reason” why the affected swimmers should not take part in the Paris Olympics. “It is not possible that you make an accusation against an athlete that is not supported by the relevant authorities – in this case, WADA – and then say +ok, for these reasons, because certain people are not happy +, you exclude them from the Olympic Games”.