It’s difficult for me to say which side of this issue I fall on. The IOC does not exist to make political statements. It exists to govern the Olympics which shouldn’t focus solely on one select group of athletes. At the same time, however, statement six in the list of what the IOC’s mission is states: “Act against any form of discrimination affecting the Olympic Movement.” There’s a fine line to walk here, I realize. Not everything is black and white like so many people expect it is. And people are going to elbow in on the media coverage for any major event of this size and there’s not much to be done about it. These people had no direct involvement in the Games, therefore the IOC shouldn’t have to do anything, but people will be upset that they haven’t.
The International Olympic Committee has said Russia was acting in accordance with its laws when police detained 14 protesters in Moscow and St. Petersburg on the day of the Olympic opening ceremonies. Some of those held in Moscow report being beaten while in police custody.
“We understand that the protesters were quickly released,” Emmanuelle Moreau, the IOC’s head of media relations, said in an email to BuzzFeed. “As in many countries in the world, in Russia, you need permission before staging a protest. We understand this was the reason that they were temporarily detained.”