But no case was ever filed.
Tennis in Crimea
While Isinbaeva tried to tiptoe away from Putin, fellow IOC member Tarpischev has not.
In addition to endorsing the idea of athletes fighting in Ukraine, Tarpischev — president of the Russian Tennis Federation since 1999 and an IOC member since 1994 — has repeatedly visited occupied Crimea, where he even became a co-owner of a business in 2015, a year after Putin sent in Russia’s little green men to illegally annex the peninsula.
As an IOC member, Tarpischev is part of the Olympism365 Commission, which is tasked with promoting Olympic values among interested parties, including politicians who want to support sports.
Since the full-scale invasion, Tarpischev has met with Russian state officials at sports events who are members of the Putin regime, are on foreign sanctions lists, participate in war propaganda or personally support the armed forces and visit occupied territories.
The Russian Tennis Federation, which Tarpischev runs, holds competitions in Crimea. Its regional branch organizes tournaments “in honor of the builders of the Crimean Bridge” and “in honor of reunification with Russia.” It also directly supports the Russian army through volunteer actions.
Tarpischev has even said he doesn’t mind holding competitions in the Russian-controlled so-called Donetsk People’s Republic in eastern Ukraine — but only “if ATP allows.”
He has also prohibited tennis players from talking about the war. “I have forbidden our [boys and girls] to respond to any provocative questions. They should only say: ‘Sports and politics do not mix, leave me alone,’” said Tarpischev.
The Russian Tennis Federation did not respond to a request for comment.
IOC’s ‘selective morality’
After a push from Ukraine, the IOC’s Ethics Commission investigated Tarpischev and Isinbaeva’s positions, but the body did not find evidence to sever connections with the Russian sports figures.
IOC President Thomas Bach said that neither official “had contractual links with the Russian military or security agencies or supported the war in Ukraine.”
“They are not representatives of Russia in the IOC,” Bach added. “They are the representatives of the IOC in Russia.”
Senior Ukrainians and longtime IOC critics weren’t surprised by the decision.
“As Ukraine’s [National Olympic Committee] president, I want to reiterate that as long as the war is ongoing, not a single Russian should be anywhere, in any sports organization. Or let them come out actively, openly saying that they are against the war,” Hutzait said.
“The International Olympic Committee runs the Olympic Games under numerous guiding fictions,” said Jules Boykoff, an international expert in sports politics from Pacific University in Oregon. “One of them is that IOC members do not represent their country, but instead represent the IOC.”
“The truth is that the IOC routinely operates with extremely selective morality,” he added. “The case of Isinbaeva and Tarpischev is a prime example of how the IOC is willing to bend over backwards to accommodate members of their selective club rather than stand up for the principles that the organization claims to follow.
“Moreover, it throws into doubt the process by which athletes from Russia and Belarus are being vetted for inclusion at the Paris 2024 Olympics,” he said. “If the IOC is overlooking their members’ links to the war effort, what else are they choosing to ignore?”
