Has Umar Kremlev won?

Baron Pierre de Coubertin conceived the Olympic Games on the finish of the nineteenth century as a revival of the competitors that had introduced glory to historical Greece, with an more and more forgotten double motive: to defend sport towards political pursuits and to have a good time amateurism.

The Olympic motion has had too many controversial moments in its historical past, reminiscent of when it was the mouthpiece of Nazism on the 1936 Berlin Games, with Adolf Hitler within the stands, though the image of the American Jesse Owens raising his fist in front of the Nazi leader after profitable the 100m has gone down in historical past. 

Boycotts and the politicisation of sport

The US-led bloc boycott of the 1980 Moscow Games and the US and Commonwealth-led response to the 1984 Los Angeles Games stay anecdotal within the face of the brand new scenario by which the Olympic physique itself vetoes international locations over non-sporting points reminiscent of Russia and Belarus. 

The very rapid reaction of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to the war between Russia and Ukraine contrasts with the Thomas Bach-led organisation’s lukewarm perspective to the armed battle between Israel and Palestine, Israel’s indiscriminate bombing of embassies, Iran’s response with two dozen missiles and drones, or the bombing between the United States and the Houthis in Yemen.

The International Olympic Committee has develop into one other actor on the political scene, just like the UN, NATO, the European Union or the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan). Wouldn’t Baron Pierre de Coubertin have dreamed of an embrace between a Ukrainian and a Russian athlete? Or between an Israeli and a Palestinian? In this objective of depoliticising sport, the International Olympic Committee has failed miserably, especially during the ‘pranked’ “Bach era”. 

Umar Kremlev, a pioneer

The different main drawback is financial. In a context the place fewer and fewer international locations and cities need to organise the Olympic Games, the query of amateurism has been left behind for the reason that basketball ‘Dream Team’ of the United States, with Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Scottie Pippen, Karl Malone, Larry Bird or John Stockton, marvelled on the Barcelona Games. It was the triumph of professionalism on the Olympic Games. 

The query that has been requested for a while is that this. If the Olympic Games are now not skilled, why is all the cash going to the Olympic committees, with the IOC on the high, after all? Huge promoting contracts exploiting the picture of the actual protagonists, lots of of executives residing like royalty for nearly three weeks in five-star inns with four-figure each day allowances and tv revenues that would feed complete international locations. Well, those that see the cash least are the athletes themselves, in a scenario paying homage to the gladiators within the Colosseum in historical Rome. 

In this state of affairs, Umar Kremlev, president of the International Boxing Federation (IBA), is very clear that the athlete must be at the centre of attention, which is why he has determined to professionalise newbie boxing, which has induced a storm in some establishments. The Olympic Games, which, surprisingly sufficient, already enable skilled boxers to participate. 

“We must be able to feed our families and make money from boxing. I can state categorically that the IBA should invest in boxing and not make money from it. We must continue to prove through our actions that boxing is not only a sport to be practised for health and fitness, but that it is also a means of advancement for many, it can even be a career,” he pressured, outlining the organisation’s new objectives. 

And… what concerning the athletes? Former world boxing champion Roy Jones Jr., for instance, has a transparent opinion. “I am really pleased to see the great work the IBA is doing. The athletes feel safe and secure in the IBA. With more prize money, they will be able to achieve more, train harder and deliver more spectacular fights,” stated the American. 

Coe broadcasts financial awards for Paris 2024

This conflict towards the IBA is even threatening the continuity of one of the emblematic sports activities of an Olympic Games within the programme, by a IOC led by septagenarians who’ve curiously adopted the ‘Millennium’ T-shirt that includes breakdancing within the Paris 2024 programme as their newest contribution, whereas some members of the IOC are in favour of together with e-sports within the Olympic motion. The greatest, quickest and strongest of Coubertain… however let a puppet do all of it on display screen. 

The choice by Kremlev and the IOC to reward athletes financially tasted like burning horns to Thomas Bach and firm, however the brand new order now comes not from a Russian however from a British lord who dreams of succeeding the German at the helm of the IOC: Sebastian Coe. 

The President of World Athletics was as skilful as he was individualistic. Overnight, and with out consulting anybody, the two-time Olympic champion introduced that in Paris in 2024 the Olympic champions in each athletics event will receive $50,000 (€46.647), a prize that will probably be retained in Los Angeles in 2028, with a further $30,000 (€27,988) for the runners-up and $20,000 for the bronze medallists, a complete of $2.4 million (€2.24 million). 

Many athletes again Coe’s choice

Instead, athletes backed Seb Coe’s concept. Norway’s Karlsten Warholm, the reigning Olympic champion and world report holder within the 400m hurdles, was quoted by AFP as saying: “To be honest, anything that’s offered in terms of a prize is good for the athletes, it’s motivation, so it’s very important that it recognises this changing landscape”. 

Qatar’s Mutaz Essa Barhim, excessive bounce gold medallist at Tokyo 2020, agrees with the Scandinavian. “Anything that’s offered in terms of a prize is good for the athletes, it’s motivation. These athletes work really hard and make sacrifices and this kind of prize is very important. The prize money in athletics can’t be compared to football or basketball, for example,” he stated. 

Was Kremlev proper? Will the IOC take motion towards Coe and his World Athletics because it did towards the IBA? Absolutely not, and that is the place the primary premise of the politicisation of the Olympics turns into vital. Kremlev is Russian and Coe is British. A gentleman who, if he succeeds in his balancing act, could preside over the IOC itself. There he would have affirmation of his good administration of the London 2012 Olympics, the place he was president of the organising committee. 

If the Games are the nice financial enterprise on which your entire Olympic motion lives (and does very nicely) on a world scale, and if they’ve nearly utterly misplaced the newbie character that made them magical, together with Neymar, Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo, why not give their success to the athletes whose picture pays for the entire social gathering? 

Criticised by worldwide federations

Sebastian Coe’s choice has come as a blow to most worldwide sports activities federations. The ANOCA (Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa) has described his manoeuvre as “repugnant” and this stability to achieve the highest of the IOC could possibly be broken by these hate assaults. 

The Association of International Olympic Federations (ASOIF), chaired by Francesco Ricci Bitti, additionally commented on the controversial situation. “In recent days, ASOIF members have expressed several concerns regarding the announcement made by World Athletics. This move undermines the values of Olympism and the uniqueness of the Games. You cannot and should not put a price on an Olympic gold medallist and in many cases, Olympic medallists benefit indirectly from commercial sponsorship. This ignores the less privileged athletes,” stated the Italian. 

What are these federations afraid of? That the snowball will get greater and they are going to be pressured to pay the athletes? Will Coe be proper ultimately? If so, Kremlev won’t be the satan the IOC thinks he’s, however a visionary who understood higher than anybody else that if you wish to squeeze the athletes, you need to pay them for what they do. 

Footballers with contracts price over €10 million hand over nearly three weeks of their profession to the IOC and dwell in an English mattress and breakfast within the Olympic Village. Doesn’t anybody perceive that that is nonsense? How a lot cash did the IOC make, straight or not directly, from Neymar’s presence at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games with ticket gross sales, tv rights and picture rights? How a lot cash did the Brazilian participant obtain? 

Inequalities between athletes

Another vital element is a profound inequality, because the IOC doesn’t reward Olympic champions financially, thus preserving the unique spirit of the traditional Games. It is the varied nationwide organisations that do that, creating vital variations between international locations. Far from selling equality, an American Olympic champion can obtain many occasions extra for a gold medal than one from a creating nation. Or some could obtain nothing in any respect

For instance, Spain’s three Olympic gold medals at Tokyo 2020 had been distributed as follows: karate fighter Sandra Sánchez (kata) and rock climber Alberto Ginés (combined) acquired a complete of 94,000 euros, whereas the taking pictures staff of Fátima Gálvez and Alberto Fernández (combined staff entice) took residence €75,000 every. Had a staff received gold, every member would have acquired €50,000. 

The coaches of the champions will even be rewarded. They will obtain 10% of every medal received by their athletes, i.e. €9,400 euros for gold, €4,800 euros for silver and €3,000 euros for bronze, from which the taxes relevant of their nation of residence will probably be deducted, as these are non-tax-exempt financial quantities. 

Spain is within the decrease center of the world rankings when it comes to prize cash, forward of nations such because the United States (€31,600 for every gold medal, €19,000 for silver and €12,650 for bronze), however far behind the €622,400 that Singapore receives for its gold medals alone, adopted by Taiwan (€603,000 euros) and Indonesia (€291,807 euros), as reported by Expansion in an article printed after the final Olympic Games.