Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the International Olympic Committee (IOC)made the decision to exclude athletes from that nation from the great sporting event, all in the form of protests against the war action in that territory.
And it is that 40 years after Russian television boycotted the Olympic Games due to the reduced representation of Russian athletes due to the war in Ukraine.
Canal Uno and Rossía will not broadcast the event, not even the disciplines where Russians compete, something that has not happened since the Soviet Union and the communist side boycotted the Los Angeles 84 Games. The USA had done the same in 1980 with the excuse of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, as Efe highlights.
Sources from these public channels told Russian media that “a long time“that a political decision had been made not to show the Russian team competing without a flag or anthem.
Russian television did broadcast the Tokyo Games in 2021, although then the Slavic team also only attended with neutral athletes.
The difference is that the Russian military campaign in Ukraine had not yet begun, which is why only 15 Russian athletes are now in Paris.
Some commentators believe that the real reason for the TV boycott is financial, as the absence of Russian athletes does not guarantee high ratings, which is why the channels refused to buy the rights.
There was a possibility that Match TV, the sports channel, would broadcast the main competitions, but after the taekwondo, judo and wrestling federations rejected the IOC’s invitation at the last minute, that option was also ruled out.
“Spending millions for 15 people on unpopular sports is an unjustified cost”, Match TV reported.
In any case, Mikhail Polenov, a former commentator for the channel, said that the decision by television stations to boycott the games was “a catastrophe of national magnitude.”
“So it turns out that for Russian sports television, since the national flag is not there, the Olympic Games are no longer a celebration (…) Not broadcasting the Games is a political decision.“, he told the Novaya Gazeta newspaper.
The social network VKontakte, known as the Russian Facebook, has taken advantage of the situation and will broadcast live both the opening and closing ceremonies, as well as the competitions in 16 sports.
Another option for Russians is to follow the Games through the IOC channelan option that the Russians have been able to use since Wednesday, when the football tournament started with the match between Spain and Uzbekistan (2-1).
Russian politicians and officials alike have said they will not turn to foreign television channels to watch the Olympics, not even to learn about the performance of their compatriots.
However, several coaches, active athletes and legends of Russian sport have expressed their intention to follow the Games closely.
#Russian #boycott #Paris #Olympics
2024-08-03 08:18:20
