Two-time Olympic gold medalist Evgeny Rylov told Russian media that he will refuse to sign a political declaration in exchange for a return to international competition.
Russia invaded Ukraine last February, prompting World Aquatics to ban Russian and Belarusian swimmers from international competition until earlier this month, when the global governing body approved conditions for their return as neutral athletes. However, it appears that Rylov would rather miss the Paris 2024 Olympics than condemn the war started by his country.
World Aquatics’ criteria for readmission included “no support for the war in Ukraine,” which includes “participation in pro-war demonstrations or events, and the wearing of any symbol in support of the war in Ukraine.” If approved, only one Russian and Belarusian athlete would be allowed per event in competition, and they would be restricted from displaying national flags, playing national anthems, or giving interviews.
All-Russian Swimming Federation president Vladimir Salnikov reportedly indicated that anti-war statements could be prerequisites for athletes such as Rylov, who was already suspended nine months after showing support for the war on stage at one of Vladimir Putin‘s rallies in Moscow.
“I recently re-read these recommendations,” Rylov reportedly told Match TV. “You can count on your fingers how many athletes meet these requirements. If necessary, everyone will go, but I only speak for myself: if I have to sign such a declaration, I will refuse. I don’t want to accept their conditions. Even if we are obliged to compete under a neutral flag, which we have already done successfully, it is clear that we can achieve this. However, this whole thing has become a habit. There was a time when they thought that we had to go through this, but their impudence continues to grow.
“In any case, I am waiting for this situation to be finalized,” Rylov added. “Signing the declaration means saying your country is bad. We are waiting to see what will happen next. There are criteria and recommendations, but no one knows how this situation will develop. For now we are preparing for our competitions, which will be held in Russia. I believe that we should only compete if we are fully restored in all our rights, otherwise we will remain neutral athletes for the rest of our lives.”
The Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) said that it would financially compensate athletes for their inability to compete in international sports tournaments, including “those who, on moral grounds, have declined to sign documents [condemning Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine] and have not taken part in such actions.”
The Russian Sports Ministry said that as many as 55 Russian Olympians had switched sporting nationalities amid sanctions from the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Distance specialist and open water standout Anastasiya Kirpichnikova was one of them, attaining French citizenship in April.
Earlier this month, the IOC changed its mind about Russian and Belarusian participation at the Asian Games next week in Hangzhou, China, denying them entry to the competition without explaining why.
“The concept of the participation of athletes with Russian and Belarusian passports at the Asian Games 2023 was explored as discussed at the Olympic Summit in December 2022, but was not feasible due to technical reasons,” the IOC told the Indian Express.
Russian and Belarusian swimmers’ best bet to qualify for the Paris 2024 Olympics will likely be the 2024 World Championships five months from now in Doha, Qatar.
Ukraine previously said its athletes would boycott any international event where Russians are present, but that stance seems to have softened in recent months amid criticism from IOC president Thomas Bach and artistic swimmers Maryna and Vladyslava Aleksiiva.
Ruzzian apologists: but but but Murica!
He will probably get more money from Russia for not attending Olympics then He would get going to Olympics. Mother Russia pays well if you support terrorism.
I read the criteria from World Aquatics/FINA. Nowhere in there is anything about a signed declaration. Rylov either lacks reading comprehension or he is deliberately deceiving to play the demagogue. And SwimSwam chooses to reprint this gaslight without analysis.
World Aquatics’ eligibility rules do not apply to the Olympics. The IOC has proposed the neutrality pledge for Olympic participation.
Source? You link no source to this proposed pledge. SS only links to the international federation and Rylov’s demagoguery
He was on state media and lives in an authoritarian country where people disappear when they speak out against the regime… what would expect him to do differently?
Wow this topic has attracted plenty of unfamiliar contributors. An inordinate amount I’d say. Nice to see all these shy lurkers finally engage with other fans of the sport.
It depends on which war the deep state endorses. Then they brainwash the masses with their paid liars in the media
It would help if you backed up your claims with evidence? Anyone can say a throwaway statement like that, doesn’t mean its true
Open the history book but I will give you some examples
1) turkey invaded Cyprus in 1974 and still occupies the land. No one cares except the involved parties.
2) NATO at the behest of the EU “carpet bombed” Serbia so they can oust milosevic.
3) US and a very small amount of allies invaded Iraq because Saddam at one time (most likely back in the 1980s) had weapons of mass destruction. Of course he had them and used them on the Kurds but that was only because the DS had supplied him with then to keep the balance between Iraq and Iran during their unnecessary decade long war.
All three illegal invasions of sovereign nations treated… Read more »
You need to evaluate history with context.
1) There is a rather large Turkish population in Cyprus which was systematically being eliminated. If I remember correctly, Turkey appealed to the international community about this which fell on deaf ears. Then in 1974, Turkey decided to protect the Turkish people living in Cyprus. I think any country would have done the same. (Cyprus has a very long and complicated history – hard to understand why the two nations cannot get along when they are very similar in fact.)
2) If I remember correctly, Milosevic was committing war crimes, leading an ethnic cleansing against the Bosnians which the international communicate refused to give arms so they can defend themselves.
3)… Read more »
Unfortunately, DSS is correct in this regard. It’s been going on for a long time. The CIA —as well as the FBI—has long been involved in print and electronic media.
Former CIA officer Ray McGovern: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzGl9dwipb0
Wikipedia Co-Founder Larry Sanger on CIA & FBI manipulation of Wikipedia: https://moguldom.com/449978/co-founder-of-wikipedia-cia-and-fbi-manipulate-wikipedia-its-part-of-the-information-battlefield/
The United States Supreme Court struck down McCarthy era (early 1950s) loyalty oaths as being unconstitutional in 1962 and 1964.
This included the University of California Loyalty Oath (1950) which required employees to disavow any “radical beliefs.”
Wait did the American swimmers have to sign a declaration after the US fabricated evidence of weapons of mass destruction to invade Iraq, which caused the death of 1 Million Iraqi civilians? Obviously right? right? They must have right? Wait they didn’t???
1 million Iraqi citizens? You’re a fool.
They killed a ton of innocent people, is that enough? Or do you have to kill a million before we make the swimmers sign a declaration. Im sure the USA has the body count by now
Whataboutism at its finest. Two wrongs don’t make a right. Of course we can learn from history, but to say that the sporting international community shouldn’t do everything in its powers right now to support the Ukrainian effort due to past unrelated actions of other countries is not sending out a good message.
Its also a dangerous game and dare I say lazy to draw moral parallels/equivalence from two very different conflicts involving different countries separated by 20 years. At what point do you draw a line in the sand?
We can do something right now by making US athletes sign a declaration saying they dont support US invasions and occupations abroad. We can make a single standard right now by applying equal weight to both wrongs
I see your point about making a single standard moving forwards, however I maintain that it is unwise to compare current events with Russia/Ukraine with say USA/Iraq and seek some form of retrospective sanctioning.
The USA is no longer occupying Iraq nor is the current US administration the same as when the invasion was launched some 20 years ago. On the other hand, the man ultimately responsible for invading Ukraine – Putin remains in power and Russian forces are still very much inside Ukrainian territory as we speak.
Yes you could ask valid question on should the sport have done more 20 years ago in response to American foreign policy, but that is for another topic/thread and should… Read more »
To wrongs don’t make a right only when the Americans get away with their illegal wars and their athletes are not made to sign a declaration against an illegal war, eh?
The question, why American athletes weren’t banned during America’s wars is a legitimate one, not whataboutism. This is not about two wrongs don’t make a right. This is about hypocrisy or a lack of equal treatment. American athletes should have been banned during the Vietnam War, the Iraq War, and the war in Afghanistan.
Now if two wrongs don’t make a right, since Russian athletes are being banned today, then American athletes today should be banned “sort of like a deferred ban” for the wrong of not banning American… Read more »
You make some interesting points, however, keep in mind the geopolitical and economic power the United States has wielded since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. The United States has been calling the shots in line with a unipolar world, so most will not stand up against it.
However, that’s changing. There is a rapidly growing sentiment around the world that the United States is a sort of narcissistic hegemon, and lives by a “Rules For Thee But Not For Me” ethos. Racism, out of control crime and gun violence, an onerous debt to GDP ratio of around 135%, growing corruption, lack of equal access to affordable health care, hyperpartisanship, the power of the military industrial complex,… Read more »
It’s a legitimate to question to ask why Americans were not banned/ask to sign a declaration like Russians now over Iraq but its a historical question and needs to be answered with due consideration of the context of that invasion. If you start doing retroactive bans on swimmers from nations that have launched invasions of others throughout the course of history, you will end up with only Swiss athletes competing.
This is a swimming article about Rylov/Russia in the current context of the war in Ukraine and not about previous transgressions of other countries and the previous lack of action by Fina. It’s a whataboutism because rather than directly addressing the content of the article, you are deflecting away… Read more »
Amen
A very honorable position. Much respect.