IOC warns countries that block athletes for political reasons risk harming Olympic host bids

MUMBAI: Countries that exclude athletes from competing for political reasons risk harming their plans to host an Olympic Games, the IOC said Sunday.

The “growing politicization of sport” was flagged as a problem by International Olympic Committee member Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović, the former president of Croatia, in an update to global sports leaders about countries who want to host the games in future.

Though she did not identify problematic countries, Poland and Indonesia have expressed interest in hosting the 2036 Olympics. It is the next Summer Games available to be awarded.

Poland refused to let Russian athletes compete in the European Games this year and Indonesia was stripped by soccer governing body FIFA of hosting the men’s Under-20 World Cup in May because the Muslim-majority nation did not want to stage Israel games.

“We have witnessed more and more government restrictions being placed on athletes’ access to international sporting competitions,” Grabar-Kitarovic said in Mumbai at the IOC’s annual meeting. It opened Saturday with India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying his country wants to be the 2036 host.

The IOC panel that liaises with potential Summer Games bidders, which Grabar-Kitarovic chairs, “must take any infringement of the Olympic Charter into consideration at all stages of the dialogue,” she said.

“It is important that all interested parties and preferred hosts commit to abide by the IOC’s code of ethics and rules of conduct,” she said.

Indonesian soccer federation president Erick Thohir also is an elected IOC member though was announced absent Sunday at the start of the meeting.

A decision on the 2036 Olympics host should be taken “not before 2026 or 2027.” Grabar-Kitarović said, in a