Soft power, tough decision

September 6, 2024, 6:57 am , by Richard Lutz

By Richard Lutz

It’s been a murderous week for Ukraine. Drones and missiles killed 53 in the city of Poltava. Then five children were slaughtered by the Russians in air assaults over Lviv. It’s a barbaric war.

Also this last week, winning the US Open is Belarusian tennis ace Aryna Sabalenko. On the men’s side, Daniil Medyedev, from Moscow, was bounced from the quarterfinals on Wednesday. Both are stars.

Along with others from banned nations, they play under a category called Individual Neutral Athletes. They can’t compete under their national flags nor let their individual anthems play as they pick up their medals and cups. They can’t make political statements nor have connections with the Russian or Belarus military who kill Ukrainian citizens every day.

But they can- and do- compete against Ukrainian athletes in games and sports. It can make for uncomfortable watching.

Now, Medyedev and Sabalenka (and a host of others) both must be terribly conflicted over this. They have been questioned in press conferences and they make very careful statements. They have to or else they’ll lose their status. And if they even did make veiled comments over their home nation’s brutal governments….well, anything could happen to those they know, and anything could happen to their bigtime career. It’s an unsettling time for these young athletes who just want to achieve what they’ve been training to do for most of their young lives. But they are playing as bombs target Ukrainian schools, hospitals, markets.

The competitors say politics have no place in sports. But with neutral status, unfortunately, it does. Just getting on court or in an Olympic swimming pool as a neutral is a political act.

And that’s because they, sadly, can become part of the weaponry that Russia and Belarus utilise to support their ugly murderous campaign. The neutral competitor wins a tournament, snatches an Olympic medal, they really are still ultimately Russian or Belarusian. And the Kremlin and Minsk governments will use their victories for some hamfisted concocted celebration.

These neutral athletes have a powerful collective voice

It’s time to stop this anomalous dispensation. It puts the neutral athletes in a tough place, a limboland. It is terrible for any Ukrainian opponent too. It’s a half baked idea by sports committees to come up with some sort of gimcrack way to allow stars from sanctioned states to continue in the money-heavy commercial world of sports.

Each time the internationally renowned neutral competitors win (and they win a lot) Putin and his mob will use a victory as soft power. It is the muscle of worldwide celebrity, in the entertainment universe, in sports, in culture, which can be as powerful, as hard edged as propaganda, misinformation, false news.

If neutral status was abandoned the mega stars can still, theoretically, compete in Russia, Belarus or in any of the sports arenas of the Kremlin’s world (North Korea Open, anyone?). And they can then have their true voice heard; they can honestly back their government if they wish or criticise it and make a fuss just as a fearless civil opposition does every day on their dangerous streets. It’s a rough decision, a hardnosed and hard hearted one. But it is a debatable alternative.

If they don’t like the war, these neutral athletes, despite the danger, could use this soft power against the regimes. That would be using sports as a political weapon. These athletes have a voice, a vigorous voice, that others cannot share. They will be listened to and can make a difference, whether in Moscow or Minsk.