Russia invasion upends Olympic 'neutrality' — if it existed

The International Olympic Committee has always been political, from the sheikhs and royals in its membership to a seat at the United Nations to pushing for peace talks between the Koreas. But Russia's invasion of Ukraine three weeks ago exposed its irreconcilable claims of “political neutrality.”

The IOC’s politics were evident at Hitler’s 1936 Olympics. During the Cold War, the Games were a stage for conflict (Mexico City), violence (Munich) and boycotts (Moscow). To this day, the IOC has partnered with authoritarian states like China and Russia, beginning with the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics, through the doping-scarred Sochi Games to the just-closed Beijing Winter Olympics.

Yawning gaps exist between what the IOC has long insisted it is — “the very heart of world sport” — and a view that hews closer to reality; a nonprofit sports business, based in Switzerland, that generates about 90% of its income from selling broadcast rights and sponsorships.

Increasingly, the IOC must cater to rich sponsors that were barely a factor 30 years ago as the Games, almost bankrupt, turned commercial and professional. Olympic athletes are pressing for a larger slice of the pie, aware their careers are fragile (only 30% of them attend the Olympics more than once).

The most visible politics involve the 206 nations and territories that march into the Games under national colors, flags, and stirring anthems — but never in a vacuum. By comparison, the U.N. has only 193 member states.

Following the invasion of Ukraine — acting because of a breach of the so-called Olympic Truce and not because of the war itself — the IOC recommended that sports federations and event organizers “not invite or allow” Russian or Belarusian athletes to participate.

But it left loopholes, stayed out of the fray...