By Stephen A. Hess, the Law Office of Stephen A Hess, P.C., Colorado Springs, USA
Benjamin Franklin was a vegetarian out of allegiance to deep moral principles. But even those principles found occasional exception, as Franklin himself described in his Autobiography:
“I believe I have omitted mentioning that, in my first voyage from Boston, being becalm'd off Block Island, our people set about catching cod, and hauled up a great many. Hitherto I had stuck to my resolution of not eating animal food, and on this occasion I consider'd, with my master Tryon, the taking every fish as a kind of unprovoked murder, since none of them had, or ever could do us any injury that might justify the slaughter. All this seemed very reasonable. But I had formerly been a great lover of fish, and, when this came hot out of the frying-pan, it smelt admirably well. I balanc'd sometime between principle and inclination, till I recollected that, when the fish were opened, I saw smaller fish taken out of their stomachs; then thought I, "If you eat one another, I don't see why we mayn't eat you." So I din'd upon cod very heartily, and continued to eat with other people, returning only now and then occasionally to a vegetable diet. So convenient a thing is it to be a reasonable creature, since it enables one to find or make a reason for everything one has a mind to do.”[1]
The reader must be curious regarding the relevance of this passage, so let me get to the point. Article 1 of Part A of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Code of Ethics (titled "Fundamental Principles") mandates "[r]espect for the universal fundamental ethical principles [at] the foundation of Olympism." These principles include, under Section 1.2: "[r]espect of the principle of the universality and political neutrality of the Olympic Movement."
The Court of Arbitration for Sport has just made international headlines for having dismissed the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) appeal against an IOC Executive Board decision suspending the ROC on 12 October 2023. Because of the suspension, the ROC has lost the ability to operate as a National Olympic Committee under the Olympic Charter, as part of which it has also lost entitlement to any funding from the IOC. How does this fare under the ideals of Olympism?
Let us step back for a minute. This suspension was not the first time the IOC undertook to respond to international pressure to impose sanctions on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine. Whilst the Russian invasion itself has almost universally been condemned, the question of whether the invasion should have ramifications within the Olympic movement has not been unanimous in the light of the avowed "political neutrality" of the Olympic movement.
Of course, the IOC has never taken the position that there are exceptions to "political neutrality." Rather, the IOC has found that Russia violated Olympic principles in a manner that justified a remedy. Specifically, the IOC observed that the Russian invasion of Ukraine stood as a violation of the "Olympic Truce" promulgated and adopted by the United Nations and the IOC. Under the Olympic Truce, nations bind themselves - amongst other things - not to initiate military conflict during the period shortly before through shortly after the Olympic Games. This is not a mandate never to engage in war - it is a mandate not to initiate an invasion during the Olympic Games.
And thus, the IOC has explained prior sanctions:
“The IOC condemned the senseless war in the strongest terms on the day of the invasion. With no end in sight to the fighting after one year of bloodshed, the IOC reiterates its condemnation of the war in Ukraine, which is a blatant violation of the Olympic Truce that was in effect at the time, and the Olympic Charter. For this reason, the IOC sanctioned the Russian and Belarusian states and governments, who are solely responsible for this war, in an unprecedented way: no international sports events organised in Russia and Belarus; no flag, anthems or other national symbols whatsoever displayed; and no government or state officials accredited for any international sports events.”[2]
Similarly, last October, the IOC found a mechanism to suspend the ROC in response to the ROC recognition of regional Olympic groups as falling within its the ROC jurisdiction:
“The unilateral decision taken by the Russian Olympic Committee on 5 October 2023 to include, as its members, the regional sports organisations which are under the authority of the National Olympic Committee (NOC) of Ukraine (namely Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia) constitutes a breach of the Olympic Charter because it violates the territorial integrity of the NOC of Ukraine, as recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in accordance with the Olympic Charter.”[3]
This announcement anticipates - and answers - the obvious question of how a "political" action of a sovereign National Olympic Committee can serve as the basis for punishment in the face of the "political neutrality" of the Olympic movement.
The CAS ruling, so far as we know today, is, generally, a finding that the IOC Executive Board suspension of the ROC, based on the principles above: "did not breach the principles of legality, equality, predictability or proportionality."[4]
In short, even the most robust respect for political neutrality may find exception in contrary rules that are directed to other principles of the Olympic movement, whether it is the Olympic Truce, respect for the "territorial integrity" of member NOCs, or some other principled basis.
Interested observers are waiting to see whether the reasoning of the CAS decision, ultimately, in the words of Benjamin Franklin quoted above "enables [the IOC] to find or make a reason for everything [the IOC] has a mind to do."
The Author may be contacted by e-mail at ‘
[1] https://www.gutenberg.org/files/20203/20203-h/20203-h.htm, use permitted under Project Gutenberg License with the grateful appreciation of the author.
[2] https://olympics.com/ioc/media/q-a-on-solidarity-with-ukraine-sanctions-against-russia-and-belarus-and-the-status-of-athletes-from-these-countries.
[3] https://olympics.com/ioc/news/ioc-executive-board-suspends-russian-olympic-committee-with-immediate-effect.
[4] https://www.tas-cas.org/fileadmin/user_upload/CAS_Media_Release_10093__Decision_.pdf.