CNN
—
World Athletics president Sebastian Coe says his organization tries to “remain politically neutral” where possible when dealing with the impact of global conflict and geopolitics on sport.
Athletes from Russia and Belarus have are excluded from events organized by World Athletics, the world governing body for athletics, from March 2022, and calls are growing for similar sports sanctions to be imposed on Israeli athletes amid war on Hamas in Gaza.
However, Coe said he sees Russia’s war in Ukraine as a “very different situation” to the Israel-Gaza conflict, explaining that “you have to deal with what’s in front of you.”
Talking to you CNN SportsAmanda Davies ahead of the World Indoor Championships in Glasgow, Scotland, Coe said: “We are not the United Nations. We are not a political body. We are an international federation for sports.
“My responsibility is to ensure that our sport remains global, that where we can – it’s not always possible, but where we can – we remain politically neutral.
“But then we take a stand — we’ve taken a stand on Russia and Belarus … We recognize that any time you make political judgments, you’re setting a precedent, but I think you have to deal with these issues as they arise. ”
Coe, a gold medalist in the 1,500 meters at the 1980 and 1984 Olympics, is a former UK Conservative MP who went on to the House of Lords. leaving the Upper House of Parliament on January 31, 2022.
Simon Hofmann/Getty Images
Sebastian Coe has been president of World Athletics for eight years.
According to the health ministry in Gaza, more than 30,200 people in the enclave have been killed since the Israel-Hamas war began in October.
Against the background of a increasing death tollsports bodies and lawmakers have called for sanctions against Israeli athletes.
Last month, 26 French MPs called for the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to impose the same sanctions on Israeli athletes as those from Russia and Belarus.
Before that, 12 Middle East football federations called on FIFA to ban Israel’s national football team, urging the governing body to take a “resolute stand against the atrocities committed in Palestine and the war crimes in Gaza”.
CNN has reached out to Israel’s National Olympic Committee, FIFA and the IOC for a response.
“You have to deal with what’s in front of you,” Coe said of World Athletics’ stance on Israel’s participation in athletics. “And right now, it’s up to other organizations to make some judgments.
“We will look at that, as we always do in all sports and a number of issues, and that will be for the future. But right now, the most important thing we can do is to ensure, wherever possible, that the sport is preserved under unbearably difficult conditions.”
Dylan Martinez/Reuters
Coe speaks during the closing ceremony of last year’s world championships in Budapest, Hungary.
The current World Athletics ban means Russian and Belarusian track and field athletes will not be able to compete at this year’s Paris Olympics, as the IOC has said individual sports federations have the first say on whether athletes from those countries can to try to qualify for the Games.
The stance has been welcomed by Ukrainian athletes, who argue that Russia’s involvement in sporting events only boosts the country’s “propaganda machine”.
However, the IOC has open the road for Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete in this year’s Games, provided they compete as neutral athletes and meet certain eligibility conditions.
Asked whether the World Athletics ban on Russians and Belarusians would be reviewed, Coe said: “We actually have a small working group that will look at conditions that might concern us to remove that ban.
“Right now, there doesn’t seem to be much of a difference. The issue regarding the integrity of competition has not changed. In fact, if anything, it’s worse. So we are not closing the door. We never do that. It’s important to watch.”