The International Olympic Committee and FIFA both moved Monday toward banning Russia from international sporting events, and what seems like a bold move is actually just an acknowledgment of the status quo. Most of the world’s most prosperous nations are imposing sanctions on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, essentially trying to keep it from participating in the global economy.
The IOC and FIFA are following their leads, and it is the only sensible choice. But it should also put an end to the IOC’s nonsense reasoning that the Olympic Games are not political. That is simply not a tenable position in 2022.
The IOC had to do this. You know the IOC had no choice because, if it didn’t, it would have chosen something else. Athletes and federations were pushing the IOC to ban Russia—and Belarus, which has supported the Russian invasion. The heat was only going to go up. It forced the IOC to abandon its preferred mode of dealing with rogue states, which is inaction.
