International Olympic Committee says it was victim of Russian prank calls

BERLIN – International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Thomas Bach was a victim of Russian prank calls, as relations between the Olympic body and Russia quickly deteriorated following a Paris Olympics parade ban for their athletes over the war in Ukraine.

The IOC said on March 21 that, in the calls made to the Olympic body and its president, the callers presented themselves as representatives of the African Union Commission who wanted to discuss the issue on Russia.

“There appears to have been a new incident in the Russian disinformation and defamation campaign against the International Olympic Committee and its president,” the IOC said.

“Fake calls purporting to be from the African Union Commission appear to have been made by the very same group that has already attacked a number of global political leaders and other high-ranking personalities in the same way.”

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in September had spoken of international fatigue with the conflict in Ukraine in a phone call with the Russian pranksters, who have duped other Western politicians and celebrities in an effort to elicit frank, unguarded remarks.

“During the calls, a person pretending to be the chair of the African Union Commission wanted to have arguments in particular with the IOC against the politicisation of sport by the Russian government, in order to prepare a statement against such politicisation,” the IOC added.

It did not provide details of the conversations or say how many calls had been made.

On March 19, the IOC announced a ban on Russian and Belarusian athletes from the Paris Games opening ceremony. That prompted a sharp response from Moscow, with Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov saying on March 20 the IOC decision was “the destruction of the idea of Olympism”.

There were also strong words that included “racism, neo-Nazism and Holocaust” in a reference to Bach’s German nationality. The IOC, in response, said those “aggressive” comments have hit a “new low”.

Relations between Russia and the IOC have turned sour in recent months.

In another incident, the Russian-led International Boxing Association (IBA) has accused the IOC of political bias after the IOC’s sports director asked national federations to create a body it can work with so boxing can be included in the 2028 Olympics.

The IOC stripped the IBA of recognition last June, saying that it had failed to complete reforms on governance, finance and ethical issues.

“The IBA will not be involved in the organisation of the boxing tournament (at the Los Angeles Olympics 2028), should boxing be included in the sports programme,” IOC sports director Kit McConnell said.

“So it’s now up to the national federations to drive this change and to work to create a body that we can work in partnership with, because we cannot move forward with this current situation.”

The IBA responded by saying: “Circus management and clown behaviour from (IOC president) Thomas Bach’s camp are apparent... we refuse to let boxing become a casualty of political agendas.”

IBA president Umar Kremlev added in the statement that the IOC was trying to “strong-arm and threaten” the national federations affiliated with the IBA. REUTERS