IOC warns Afghanistan against women’s access to sport

GENEVA –

The status of the Afghan team for the 2024 Paris Olympics was questioned by the IOC on Wednesday over growing frustration over the Taliban blocking access to sports for women and girls.

The International Olympic Committee said it “remains extremely concerned” about the sports situation in Afghanistan, despite its repeated calls for action.

The IOC noted that it “has the right to take further action” and warned that “specific details for the participation of the Afghan (National Olympic Committee) delegation and team” for the Paris Games have not yet been decided.

The IOC could suspend the Afghan Olympic body for government interference in the independent management of sport, while supporting the country’s athletes to compete as an independent team in Paris under the Olympic flag and national anthem. That was how Kuwaiti took part in the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics.

The issue was discussed at a meeting of the IOC’s executive board on Wednesday, which also provided updates on issues with Olympic officials in India, Indonesia, Iran and Guatemala.

A phone call between Olympic officials and the recently appointed director of physical education and sports in Afghanistan had resulted in some written assurances, IOC director for NOC relations James McLeod said in an online briefing.

Still, the IOC said allowing some access to sports for girls in primary schools was “a first step, but reiterated that this remains insufficient”.

A number of women and girls who once played a variety of sports told The Associated Press in January that they had been intimidated by the Taliban with visits and phone calls warning them not to participate in their sport.

The Afghanistan issue will next be discussed in October at an IOC board meeting in Mumbai, India, shortly after the Asian Games.

Afghanistan sent five athletes, including a woman, to the Tokyo Olympics, which ended in August 2021, a week before the Taliban retook control of the country.

ISINBAYEVA

Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began 16 months ago, the IOC has faced questions about allowing Russian members to participate in Olympic affairs.

Yelena Isinbayeva, two-time Olympic pole vault champion and former Russian army officer, has now received approval from the IOC Ethics Committee to continue using the IOC membership she has held since 2016.

The IOC had said in March that its membership status would be evaluated after Olympic sporting bodies were told athletes who supported the war in Ukraine or were contracted to the military would not be given neutral status to compete internationally.

Without naming Isinbayeva on Wednesday, IOC spokesman Mark Adams said the “past contractual situation” of the Russians prior to the war that began Feb. 24 last year should not be taken into account.

“All necessary work has been carried out to the satisfaction of the ethics committee,” Adams said, without clarifying whether Isinbayeva has relinquished her army rank.