IOC president says procedures against Belarus coaches to continue

The president of IOC said disciplinary procedures on two Belarus coaches will continue, after they were removed from Olympics over involvement in trying to send Krystsina Tsimanouskaya back to Belarus

The president of the International Olympic Committee said disciplinary procedures on two Belarus coaches will continue, after they were removed from the Olympics over their involvement in trying to send sprinter Krystsina Tsimanouskaya back to Belarus.

Thomas Bach said Friday the disciplinary commission will take "appropriate measures, sanctions and decisions".

The IOC said the credentials of Artur Shimak and Yury Maisevich have been cancelled and removed.

Both men are due to be interviewed by an IOC disciplinary panel formed to investigate what happened to Tsimanouskaya.

Shimak and Maisevich continued to have contact with Belarusian athletes since Sunday.

The IOC linked them to taking Tsimanouskaya in a car to the airport to put her on a plane to Belarus because she criticized team coaches.

 

It was unclear if the men have stayed in Japan or will leave for Belarus, an authoritarian former Soviet republic that relentlessly pursues its critics.

Belarus has been in turmoil for a year since Alexander Lukashenko claimed a sixth presidential term after a state election widely viewed as rigged in his favor.

Lukashenko also led the Belarusian Olympic committee since the 1990s until this year. His son, Viktor, was elected to replace him.

The IOC banned both Lukashenkos from attending the Tokyo Olympics after investigating complaints from athletes they faced reprisals and intimidation in a security crackdown after the election.

Lukashenko was previously unable to attend the 2012 London Olympics because of a European Union visa ban imposed during a previous crackdown that followed a disputed election.

Asked whether such previous sanctions were effective in dealing with the issue, Bach admitted the IOC is "not in a position to change the political system in a country."

"What our responsibility and our remit is, is to protect the athletes as much and as far as we can, and then to sanction those or to keep those out of the Games, who are infringing there, on our values," he said.