Was the IFSC right to suspend all Russian and Belarusian climbers from competitions? I won’t bury the lede. The answer is yes. But it’s a begrudging, reluctant, and unfortunate yes.
The circumstances of an all-out war understandably coerced the IFSC’s decision, and perhaps it is the best of only bad options at this fraught moment. Not holding competitions in any location currently engaged in war is a no-brainer, but the conclusion to suspend all Russian climbers from competing, without even extending the possibility for them to compete under a neutral banner, feels rather punitive.
Still, I find myself waddling toward an unfortunate agreement with the IFSC. And yet… I feel uneasy about the implications of the policy and its glaring impotence to effect any meaningful change or do much else beyond punish climbers. The lack of perspective on this topic from anyone in the climbing world also concerns me.
What is the IFSC’s position on Vadim Timonov, who bravely critiqued his government’s warmongering during a time when Russian police are arresting protesters and stopping random people on the street to check their phones and scroll through their social media accounts to see if they’ve said anything critical of the Kremlin? If he’s arrested, will the IFSC support him?
How many have considered whether these suspensions make any sense? Are we willing to apply this standard to other countries as well? Shouldn’t Americans of all people be averse to policies that impose guilt-by-association onto individuals because they were born in places run by deranged leaders?
I don’t know if banning them is right or wrong, but I think the point of a cultural boycott is an attempt to push the populace to change their warmongering government from within, so I have to agree with you that while it sucks for the athletes who may already be against the war, it is necessary because issues bigger than climbing demand it