State Duma Deputy Svetlana Zhurova on the decision of the International Olympic Committee not to allow athletes to kneel and raise their fist in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement during the Tokyo Olympics.
“I am unequivocal about the IOC’s decision to ban support for the BLM campaign at the Tokyo Olympics: everything is written in the Olympic Charter. It states that athletes who participate in the Olympic Games already agree that they do not discriminate in any way based on gender, nationality or race. Therefore, when athletes come to the Olympic Games, they automatically accept this and do not need to carry out additional actions. People, becoming professional athletes, almost in blood subscribe to the clauses of this part of the charter, absorb this into themselves and are obliged to abide by these rules. So they do not have to do something additionally – this will already be some kind of superiority of one race over another. And this is unacceptable in the Olympic movement. Therefore, the IOC made such a decision. It is absolutely logical – there should be equality at the Olympics, and this action speaks more about inequality. And the IOC should always show the position of minimizing the politicization of the competition”.