– Shame on you for putting the athletes in this position, IOC!, says Koehler to news. Global Athlete is a network for the athletes, who wish to even out the balance of power between the sports leaders and the athletes. And right now, Koehler believes it is absolutely necessary. – I feel sorry for the athletes and that they are put in this position. He refers both to the controversial statements of Astrid Uhrenholdt Jacobsen in an IOC meeting and the recent news interview with Fourcade. When he is told that the Frenchman wants the Russians and Belarusians back at the start, he calls it outrageous. At the same time, Koehler emphasizes that it is not the athletes he is attached to. It is the IOC. – In a historical perspective, it seems that they are using the sports commission several times to sell their narrative. The American worked for 17 years for the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) between 2002 and 2019. He believes that it is the same mechanisms that are now coming to light, as when the Russians were still allowed to participate in the Olympics in 2018 after the doping scandal in Sochi. GLOBAL ATHLETE CHIEF: Rob Koehler. Defending Fourcade – attacking the IOC Martin Fourcade is a member of the IOC Athletes’ Commission and President of the 2024 Paris Olympics Athletes’ Commission. He emphasized throughout that the statements were his own. The International Olympic Committee saw two lines under that answer. – Martin Fourcade was clear about the discussions in the IOC’s athlete commission and the athlete environment in general in the interview. He spoke without instructions and mentioned that he was not a spokesperson for the IOC and that he had disagreed with the previous ones, the IOC wrote in an e-mail to news. See news’s exclusive interview with Martin Fourcade about Russian and Belarusian participation: Koehler believes that Fourcade, as an IOC member, must speak for the International Olympic Committee in such matters. When he talks to news on the phone, his first reaction is: – It doesn’t depend on grip. Koehler then responds to the message in more detail: – It is clearly written in the Olympic charter that every IOC member, including athletes in the commission, must accept the charter, Koehler says, and refers to part of the oath that the members must swear: “.. … I will respect the Olympic Charter and accept the IOC’s decisions”. – This rule does not give the athlete the opportunity to speak against their position publicly, says Koehler clearly. Being blamed for incorrect representation The International Olympic Committee is not impressed by Director General Rob Koehler’s statement in relation to the case. – Global Athlete insightfully misrepresents the IOC’s position and turns its back on the concerns that come from two of the UN’s special rapporteurs. Last autumn, two UN experts wrote a letter to the IOC because they believed the organization violated human rights by not allowing Russian and Belarusian athletes to participate. Recently, the UN representatives welcomed the development in the case and encouraged them to allow athletes from the mentioned countries to participate. The IOC points out that no decision has been made on behalf of the Olympics in Paris 2024, but that it is being discussed whether they should be able to compete in Asia in the coming summer season. They believe the Olympic movement has shown that they stand behind Ukraine, among other things through a solidarity fund. Koehler uses the same rhetoric in return. He is not impressed either. – I think the IOC with insight turns its back on human rights abuses. They turned their backs on human rights violations during the Beijing Olympics, and they are now turning their backs on Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine. Facts about Global Athlete * The organization works to give athletes a stronger voice in world sport. * They are currently working on cases that include the war in Ukraine, alleged abuse in Canadian gymnastics and anti-doping. * Global Athlete receives funding from FairSport, an organization founded by Johann Olav Koss and Jim Swartz. * The team consists of general manager Rob Koehler, program manager Lily Brazel and board members Callum Skinner, Ali Jawad, Caradh O’Donovan and Noah Hoffman. Bø: – He is part of the IOC now Fourcade’s long-time rival, Tarjei Bø, questioned the statements of his long-time rival in the biathlon race. As a rule, he has been in agreement with Fourcade on the major political issues. Now he is not: – He is part of the IOC now, so it was somewhat the same debate that was at home in Norway with Astrid and the IOC and that link there. Then the question is whether he speaks for himself or for them. He has to answer that, says Bø to news. Photo: Javad Parsa / NTB – Do you suspect that he speaks for the IOC? – No, not really, but he is part of the IOC and they obviously look at it a little differently than we who are just athletes. Astrid Uhrenholdt Jacobsen, who, like Fourcade, sits on the IOC’s athletes’ commission, refuses for someone to put a band on them. – I am pleased to be elected to a diverse community of athletes who can discuss freely and openly about matters that concern athletes, writes Jacobsen in an SMS to news.
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