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≡ CHAOS OR CONTAINMENT? ≡
An already troubled world is deeper in conflict now, with the American and Israeli strikes on Iran and Iran’s scattered response with missiles launched against neighboring countries such as Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and, of course, Israel. An Iranian drone also hit a target in Cyprus. Israel has also acted against the Iranian proxy Hezbollah in Lebanon.
With the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Paralympic Games opening on Friday (6th), the International Paralympic Committee issued a statement on Monday that included:
“[W]e are assessing the impact on Games operations, in particular on travel, while maintaining a clear focus on delivering the best Paralympic Winter Games and ensuring the event continues to serve as a platform to drive social inclusion for the world’s 1.3 billion persons with disabilities.
“We are in close contact with all delegations competing at the Games as well as other stakeholders. Many of the teams are already in Europe attending training or holding camps, but the closure of airspace in the Middle East is impacting the arrival of some stakeholders. We would prefer not to comment on the status of individual delegations or stakeholders at this stage but can provide assurance that we are working diligently with Milano Cortina 2026 to find solutions for those affected.”
In terms of the impact on teams, the U.S. announced a major squad of 72 to compete at the Winter Paralympics, probably the second-biggest at the Games behind China (77). For the 2022 Beijing Winter Paralympics, Iran sent four athletes and Israel sent one.
On Friday, the biggest issue for the Winter Paralympics was the diplomatic boycott of the opening ceremony in Verona over the inclusion – as the result of the Court of Arbitration for Sport ruling – of six Russian and four Belarusian “neutral” athletes. A half-dozen European nations said their officials would not attend the opening and Ukraine expects not to participate at all in protest of the inclusion of the aggressors in a four-year war against them.
Which leads to new issues now created for not only the International Paralympic Committee – trying to get through another difficult Games – but also the International Olympic Committee.
It has not escaped the attention of Russian officials that:
● Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022, two days after the close of the Olympic Winter Games in Beijing (CHN).
● The U.S. and Israel launched strikes against Iran on 28 February 2026, six days following the close of the Milan Cortina Winter Games.
Both came during the “Olympic Truce” period declared by the United Nations. So:
● Dmitry Svishchev, First Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Physical Culture and Sports, told the Russian news agency TASS:
“The IOC needs a response here. If it doesn’t, then our athletes must be reinstated without any reservations. They quickly began suspending and condemning us four years ago, but there’s been no response yet. That’s how we’ll be able to assess their commitment to our country. And if there’s no response, then our athletes and organizations must be reinstated.”
● Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev, the Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council, went further, telling TASS, “The IOC and the Olympic movement must be disbanded and reassembled, remembering the legacy of Pierre de Coubertin.”
So much for Russian hopes in getting support from new IOC chief Kirsty Coventry (ZIM).
● The IOC did not respond Monday to a TASS inquiry about potential sanctions against Israel and the U.S.
The attacks aren’t anything that Coventry and the IOC are involved in, but they’re involved in a different now, somehow as moral judges of right and wrong.
The suspension of the Russian Olympic Committee is based on the Russian takeover of Ukrainian territory and control of formerly Ukrainian sports organizations, which the Russians state is – legally – not the case any more. But the Russians are still there.
The U.S. and Israel are taking out Iranian war-making capabilities and the people behind them, but don’t try and sell the differences to Russia or other Iranian allies (whoever they still are).
Complicating the situation is, of course, that the 2028 Olympic Games will be in Los Angeles. And they will be in Los Angeles, because there is nowhere else to go.
Not only does L.A. have all existing venues – some to be temporary – but its key difference with other sites are the essentially “permanent” Olympic Villages in the student housing at UCLA as well as the University of Southern California.
Prior Olympic Villages, such as in Tokyo and Paris are being used as housing in their communities and not subject to being instantly repurposed.
Nothing is easy.
The IOC has not scheduled an Executive Board meeting in the coming weeks, but has an extraordinary Session on 24-25 June, ostensibly to consider Coventry’s “Fit for the Future” proposals on a series of topics which seem somehow less important right now.
In truth, what happens in Iran and to the murderous regime which came to power in 1979 is far more important that any Olympic Games. But the IOC has a voice and especially under prior President Thomas Bach (GER) has insisted it can play a role for peace.
Russia’s clear objective in 2022 was to overrun all of Ukraine and take control of the country, as it had already done with the Crimea region of Ukraine in 2014. That’s clearly not the objective of the current U.S. and Israeli action against Iran, but no one can say for sure what the outcome(s) will be.
But the IOC needs to get ready to create a position, because it will be asked – as it always is – where it stands on the actions of governments over which it has absolutely no control.
Perhaps Coventry, who suffered some very public criticism during her tenure as Minister of Youth, Sport, Arts and Recreation in Zimbabwe, might be better prepared than her critics think. She will have to be.
Rich Perelman
Editor
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