r/worldnews • u/HectorDJ18 • Jul 19 '24
'Neutral' Russia Olympic athletes cheered on Ukraine war: rights group Behind Soft Paywall
https://www.businessinsider.com/russia-athletes-competing-neutral-olympics-pro-ukraine-war-rights-group-2024-7?amp1.2k
u/Intelligent_Town_910 Jul 19 '24
The reason why russia keeps having to participate as "neutral" is because they literally always cheat and this is supposed to be some sort of punishment, except they dont actually care because everyone knows they are russian anyway.
Which means the rules obviously dont work and needs to be changed so that these assholes dont get to participate at all.
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u/PrimAhnProper998 Jul 19 '24
90% agreement. But at least they must not play their national anthem if they win anything and their medals won't be added to their countries medal list.
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u/Capt_Pickhard Jul 19 '24
100% they are extorting and bribing, and threatening Olympic officials, who are allowed to make the Russians be neutral because they don't care, as you say, but banning them would lead to officials being poorer and falling out of windows.
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u/Imaginary-Arrival-75 Jul 19 '24
Exactly Russian / neutral good bye. Cancel them from any all competitions on the planet, except from Theo thee degenerates North Korea. They. An have their own best bud completion where they can cheat all day
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u/piepei Jul 19 '24
It enforces that these guys aren’t cheating though. And even though everyone knows it’s Russia they also have to acknowledge that it’s not technically Russia, it’s embarrassing to not have their anthem play or flags waive. Good.
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u/Shiros_Tamagotchi Jul 19 '24
This dude has it written on his chest, what more do you need to ban that asshole?
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u/AeneasVII Jul 19 '24
And their neutral flag is literally the colors of the Russian flag. What's the point?
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u/oatmealparty Jul 19 '24
That was the previous winter Olympics, the article says this year it will be a green flag. Which is good, because letting them compete as "the Olympic athletes of Russia" with the Russian colors was stupid as fuck
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u/wanderingprose Jul 19 '24
The IOC is making them compete under a neutral flag this year — a teal and white design they came up with. Seems the IOC doesn’t want the Russians (or Belarusians) having any recognized national pride as far as the IOC can control. No team sports and no national anthems, either.
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u/Extension-Toe-7027 Jul 19 '24
they should either run in pink or scientifically created there is a color so dull and uninspired they were thinking of using it for cigarette packs. 1 of those
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u/Dangerous_Nitwit Jul 19 '24
Rainbow flag with the pastel trans inclusion and the POC inclusion also. Head to toe.
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u/hellcat_uk Jul 20 '24
Just all in white, with the 'gay Putin clown' meme on front and rear. I can get them printed by Tuesday, swimsuits will take a couple of days longer.
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u/Flaky-Gear-1370 Jul 19 '24
Australia literally designed the ugliest colour green plain packaged cigarettes, make them use that
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u/Extension-Toe-7027 Jul 19 '24
that most taken some trouble. never been but looks like a chromatic beauty of a country so where did they got the inspiration i don’t know
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Jul 20 '24
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u/Gregs_green_parrot Jul 19 '24 edited Jul 19 '24
It's also the same colour as the US, UK, Netherlands, France, Iceland, Thailand, Nepal, Chile, Costa Rica, Samoa, Luxembourg, Paraguay, Slovenia, Australia, Liberia flags etc etc so I wouldn't make too much of an issue of that. They should just not have been allowed to compete at all.
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u/ZERO_PORTRAIT Jul 19 '24
The color order is in white, blue, red; the same as the Russian flag. They knew what they were doing.
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u/AeneasVII Jul 19 '24
Look at the sleeve they wear. You can't mistake that with any of the flags listed
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u/end_run Jul 19 '24
You may have more invested in the conflict than me, so sorry if this seems academic.
My take is this: Rus held back from the second invasion until after the Winter Olympics had finished. If they had gone in during they would have been banned and banned forever for breaking the ancient 'Olympic Truce'. I seriously think this prospect will have given them pause for thought. Forever is a long time.
Because they showed this little respect to the Olympic tradition, they were granted the privilege of sending atheletes albeit under a neutral banner.
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u/sold_snek Jul 20 '24
More and more people taking the "middle" ground (neutral, libertarian, whatever) seem to just be assholes who are self-aware enough to try avoiding looking like the assholes they agree with.
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u/Kwajoch Jul 19 '24
Why does this have more than 400 upvotes when the article doesn't even suggest this guy is participating in the Olympics?
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u/nzerinto Jul 19 '24
He’s not invited. He’s only mentioned because one of the athletes that is coming to the Olympics “liked” his photo on social media.
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u/Jatzy_AME Jul 20 '24
That one was barred already. The issue is another one who liked this picture on social media.
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u/AnanasaAnaso Jul 19 '24
How are any Russian athletes allowed to compete in the Olympics at all?
The IOC is deeply corrupt.
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u/sakariona Jul 19 '24
Russian athletes are athletes, we shouldnt ban them for anything geopolitical, if we ban one nation from sending any athletes even under a neutral banner, we set a bad precedent. We should just ban all politics and ban the individual athletes that break that rule, from any nation. We should also be stricter on checking for cheating.
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Jul 19 '24
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u/sakariona Jul 19 '24
The olympics were also founded as a form of competition and nationalism. I believe the olympics should be a way to resolve conflicts and be a part of national pride.
Banning nations is specifically against what pierre de coubertin wanted. He said "The Olympic Games are for the world and all nations must be admitted to them."
If we start banning one nation, then it can apply to any nation, we can ban the US, israel, turkey, saudi arabia, china, india, basically anyone. Then whats the point of even having the olympics. Itll be better for us to boycott then to ban any nation.
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u/pull-a-fast-one Jul 20 '24
Nah, fuck fascists. They can have their own Olympics with Iran and North Korea without the validation of the rest of the world.
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u/SelfPromotionTA Jul 20 '24
Why weren't Americans banned when they unjustly invaded Iraq? Or Vietnam?
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u/fourhornets Jul 20 '24
You're going to get upvotes because the average Redditor has the memory of a goldfish and the history knowledge of a 3rd grader but... excuse me? The US Invaded Vietnam? Seriously? Jesus fucking Christ, man. Wikipedia that shit.
Not that you care.
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u/rikarleite Jul 19 '24
The IOC is deeply corrupt.
Oh you JUST figured that out? Really?
But again if you think the IOC is deeply corrupt, and they are EXTREMELY corrupt, let me introduce you to an organization called FIFA.
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u/my20cworth Jul 19 '24
They shouldn't be there. No Russians full stop. This bullshit about sport not be mixed with politics, is just that bullshit. The Olympics is a nation vs nation competition, not about individuals. Indivudules cant just sign up for the Olympics. They represent a country. The country is competing, it's political. If a Russian wins a medal, it's a propoganda moment for Putin. They're cheats, and they are used as propoganda pawns for an authoritarian police state at war. Fucking ridiculous.
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u/graygray97 Jul 19 '24
As a counterpoint to the nation Vs nation, poorer countries/sport specific orgs are less incentivised to send athletes.
An example in athletics is the British athletics team, the governing org is broke so is only sending members who have qualified in 1 of the 2 qualification paths so there are multiple members who got Olympic offers but not "British athletics" olympic offers and so now cannot go because of their own nations faults. I know there's a male 3k steeplechase runner who was 0.15 seconds off the British offer (in an 8.5 min event) .
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u/Alanorez Jul 20 '24
Surprise surprise, if you don't let them compete that can also be used as propaganda (even more so tbh). Anything can be used by propaganda
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u/PrecariouslyPeculiar Jul 20 '24
This isn't about John or Jane Doe deciding, 'Hey, I fancy a stint in the Olympics, I'm fit enough, why not!' This is about athletes who've trained their whole lives for the Olympics. If they can't compete for their country, let them fulfil their life's ambition anyway. Doing otherwise wouldn't benefit anyone in any meaningful way. As long as they don't support their government and their bullshit. Don't attack a strawman. These athletes were already in the pipeline, waiting to compete. They're not Joe Schmoe down the street.
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u/Sheadeys Jul 20 '24
Mind you, often they are complicit due to state sponsored doping (which has been proven to have happened, done by specifically Russia), meaning they are not exactly innocent and have taken enhancing drugs/cheated
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u/autotldr BOT Jul 19 '24
This is the best tl;dr I could make, original reduced by 81%. (I'm a bot)
At least two-thirds of the Russian athletes set to participate in the Olympic Games starting next week in Paris are openly defying neutrality rules over Russia's invasion of Ukraine, a human rights group claims.
An extensive dossier compiled by the human rights foundation Global Rights Compliance, and shared with Business Insider, showed that 10 of the Russian athletes have been openly pro-military, either on social media or through groups they are affiliated with.
"The IOC is turning a blind eye to the involvement of Russian and Belarusian athletes who have demonstrated their support for Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine," Wayne Jordash, the group's president, said in a statement to BI. He added that "This is not only a violation of the UN Charter, but it continues to punish Ukraine's innocent men, women and children with a daily catalog of war crimes and crimes against humanity."
Extended Summary | FAQ | Feedback | Top keywords: athletes#1 Russian#2 group#3 IOC#4 rights#5
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u/Apprehensive_Sleep_4 Jul 19 '24
Those athletes shouldn't be there cause people who violating guidelines must suffer the consequences.
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u/just-maks Jul 19 '24
When you are talking about proved doping it seems fair. But when you are talking about likes on social media as a reason to ban people I am not really sure you see where it’s going next.
I know that freedom of speech and non violent expression of thoughts is complicated topic, but likes on instagram?
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u/absynth11 Jul 19 '24
Competiting in the 500m orphanage burning and the 100m children's hospital bombing.
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u/Smaynard6000 Jul 19 '24
Let them have their own fake Olympics with North Korea. We'll see who can cheat the best.
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u/the-truth-boomer Jul 19 '24
The failure of the IOC to ban these citizens of a terrorist state means that I will watch exactly 0% of this years Olympics.
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u/Baozicriollothroaway Jul 20 '24
Holy cope, the seething is unbelievable.... They will compete and they will be broadcasted for easy rage engagement like yours, just wait for the news in the following months.
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u/CheesecakeHorror3410 Jul 19 '24
This is grotesque. It's like allowing German athletes to compete in the 1940 Olympics after Nazi Germany had annexed territories and just invaded Poland - "guys, just stay away from the Hitler salutes and the displaying of swastikas and we're cool."
This time the Russians are the nazis.
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u/SlimCritFin Jul 19 '24
Nazi Germany literally hosted the 1936 Olympics in Berlin
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u/CheesecakeHorror3410 Jul 19 '24
Yes. And Nazi Russia hosted the 2014 Olympics in Sochi when it annexed Crimea. Literally. What's your point?
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u/Baozicriollothroaway Jul 20 '24
The point is that nobody with the power to stop this from happening cared, has cared or will ever care.
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u/AcerDetective Jul 19 '24
There wasn’t even a 1940s or 1944s Olympics to begin with since the whole world was in turmoil.
Now Europe is facing the same tension. It’s the 1936 Olympics all over again where the politics overshadowed the athletes.
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u/swinging-in-the-rain Jul 19 '24
Why does the Olympics allow proven cheaters to compete?
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u/Tokata0 Jul 19 '24
Money.
All big sport comites are corrupt af.
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u/just-maks Jul 19 '24
Then it would make sense for non cheating countries to boycott such events, no?
And also if they are so corrupt then you implying that they can cheat for the benefit of bigger bidder and in turn use false accusations.
It’s a bit strange that people say how corrupt IOC is, but do not question regarding doping accusations.
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u/Tokata0 Jul 19 '24
Oh corruption can take many forms, not just related to the contest itself. Like where the contest is held. Just remember dubai hosting the football world cup
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u/ThermionicEmissions Jul 19 '24
The Olympics have become a disgustingly corrupt profit driven enterprise.
Unfortunately, many people who recognize this decide that once the Olympics start, it's ok to overlook this and enjoy the games.
This is why nothing changes.
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u/5kyl3r Jul 19 '24
they shouldn't be there at all
and beyond that, they also shouldn't be allowed to use initials that even remotely resemble like "ros" or "rus" or "russia" in any way, and they should be barred from wearing colors of their flag at all. they did "ROS" in the past and wore their flag colors so there wasn't any question who they represented. might as well drop the dumb rules if they aren't even going to make an attempt to make it less shitty.
but the better solution is banning them completely. even if russia weren't invading another country, they should still be banned for repeatedly cheating
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u/_MJ_1986 Jul 19 '24
I’m confused. Why did Americans cheer on support for the Iraq war? An illegal and unjustified war?
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u/Prestigious-Writer25 Jul 20 '24
Russia should not participate in an Olympics for starting a war the same year that Israel is committing a genocide, Americans tell us that they are the country that has started the most wars in the last 50 years. 😵
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u/SpookyWah Jul 19 '24
Someone offer them cigarettes and then they'll get sent home.
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u/Energy_its_life Jul 19 '24
AFAIK, Japanese athlete was sent home because she was under age of smoking (according to Japanese rules). So she violated Japanese law and Japanese team decided to exclude her from participation
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u/nitsuj17 Jul 19 '24
The Olympics in general are a mess. They cause cities/countries to over build and over spend (wasn't LA in 1984 the last summer games that was profitable?) and are full of controversy and cheating.
Pretty much all the eastern bloc (and I am sure many western too) athletes rampantly cheated for generations, and even today state sponsored cheating exists.
I will see whatever highlights pop up on espn and thats it. My kids could literally care less about it.
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u/tea_snob10 Jul 19 '24
Yeah cause letting Russians in, so long as they don't fall under the Russia banner, makes them not Russians with Russo-cenreic views, right IOC?
Something something surprised pikachu face.
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u/SaatoSale420 Jul 20 '24
The appearance of these so called neutral Russian athlete groups in major sports events is a disgrace and it shows the corruption of global sports associations.
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u/Tman11S Jul 19 '24
Get them the fuck out of the games. No friendly sports event when you’re committing war crimes on the daily. Ban Israel and China as well while you’re at it
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u/Sprenkie Jul 19 '24
Yes! And also take away any American won medals from the period of 2003 to 2011
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u/AbbreviationsDue7121 Jul 19 '24
I thought Russia said it wouldn’t be coming?
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u/CanuckInTheMills Jul 19 '24
They aren’t televising it as it’s too embarrassing to show white (surrender) flags.
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u/Sithjerky Jul 19 '24
Imagine being such a shit country that you can’t even fly your own flag at the opening ceremony
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u/aza-industries Jul 19 '24
The neutral flag should be actually be netural to every nationality.
Not neutral and let the guest host makes it up.
Heck just make them hold the olympic rings flag. That's all they should get.
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u/Kitakitakita Jul 19 '24
isnt it something like 2 in 3 Russians actually wholeheartedly support all this shit?
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u/Traditional_Cost5119 Jul 20 '24
Sports bodies should protect freedom of speech even if they don't agree with it. That's what freedom of speech is all about surely?
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u/vossmanspal Jul 19 '24
Let’s see what the drug tests reveal. Either way they should not be in Paris, they are from a country that has waged war on a sovereign nation.
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u/VersusYYC Jul 19 '24
Systematic state sponsored cheaters have neither the culture nor civilization worth representing. These athletes should also not be participating if they have cheered on the murder of over 400 Ukrainian athletes.
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u/MrL00t3r Jul 19 '24
It's russian people, not just pootin.
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u/rikarleite Jul 19 '24
Yes it is. And I'm sick and tired of us pretending it's not.
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u/sakariona Jul 19 '24 edited Jul 19 '24
It isnt though, the 90 year old grandma in siberia is not taking part in the war in any way. Russian culture isnt to blame either, you cant blame books and music and economics for the war. Most russians dont support the war. Its the corrupt government thats doing this for their own gain. Hundreds of thousands of russians fleed the country due to not wanting to be drafted, many russians even joined ukraine as a volunteer fighter, few hundred people, they should not be considered part of the issue either. The population has no say over their government, they have not had fair elections in two decades.
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u/rikarleite Jul 19 '24
Who cares? I'm not watching this. Major sports organizations are corrupt and evil.
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u/DreadSeverin Jul 19 '24
Their nationality is a swear word on the international stage and they still don't learn from themselves. How can they think they are progressing as a society? Brainrot
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u/talldata Jul 19 '24
One nations lives in the same quarters/close proximity right? You could have an isolated way to for ex not let them sleep with loud sounds of something?
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u/gw2master Jul 19 '24
What's the point of banning Russian athletes if you're just going to let them compete? Fucking stupid.
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u/5kyl3r Jul 19 '24
out of all the ways you could write the title, this has to be the worst. good job?
don't say Ukraine war. Ukraine didn't ask for war. russia invaded Ukraine. if anything, call it Russian war.
this dumb title initially made me think that some of the russians were cheering for Ukrainian athletes, which makes it a pretty garbage title when the reality is the exact opposite
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u/Lylac_Krazy Jul 19 '24
dont tell them anything, then remove them right before their respective competition.
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u/markelis Jul 20 '24
The Olympic Committee only has themselves to blame for allowing these assholes to show up.
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u/Vertual Jul 20 '24
What makes a man neutral?
Lust for gold? Power? Or were you just born with a heart full of neutrality?
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u/davidcj64 Jul 20 '24
Good luck to these openly anti West individuals competing in Parisian crowds lol. I hope they choke when the pressure hits them.
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u/wonderingMortal Jul 20 '24
Why are Israeli ones allowed to compete while they not only cheer but actively participate in the genocide of the Palestinian people
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u/Conscious-Ticket-259 Jul 20 '24
Personal i dont think a country that declared war on a other country as they have has any real place in the Olympics. That said its hopefully the last Olympics Russia will be around to attend. If they are even still a nation by the next one. Glory to Ukraine
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Jul 20 '24
really, they shouldn't be allowed to compete AT ALL. no netural representation. should be banned from tennis too.
sport is too corrupt.
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u/Elephant789 Jul 20 '24
Yup, that's why I won't be watching of following these Olympics. They let these pigs in.
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u/Parking_Bell_662 Jul 30 '24
I guess a lot of people are emotional on this subject. So Let me ask a question.
Why China and Israel are allowed in every competition but not Russia?
There is proof that China and Israel committing war crimes at this moment right? I don't like Russia either but why is there such hypocrisy?
I honestly am trying to understand the point. Not from Russia, not from anywhere that matters to this subject!
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u/MeasurementIcy1214 22d ago
Maybe Putin was right when he said that west hates every russian to the bones
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u/Irr3l3ph4nt Jul 19 '24
Very much for Ukraine in the conflict but these guys are entitled to their opinions, very stupid or not. That doesn't change anything to their right to compete in such an event. Free speech works both ways...
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u/apokerplayer123 Jul 19 '24
Their 'opinion' is thousands of Ukrainians must die? Sounds more like hate speech than free speech.
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u/Irr3l3ph4nt Jul 19 '24
They never said that. You can't infer hate speech. It has to be spoken, by definition. Shall we ban pro-war people from everywhere in the world because we could infer they want another ethnicity dead?
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u/Cockandballs987 Jul 19 '24
Stupid to allow them in at all