IOC President Thomas Bach's term ends

“Thomas Bach faithfully and persistently supported Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping in their attempts to use the Olympic Games to present whitewashed images of their regimes. He is a willing helper of dictators, war criminals, and genocide criminals,” the Society for Threatened Peoples concluded on the occasion the end of Bach’s term in office as President of the International Olympic Committee.

Thomas Bach remained silent on human rights violations and supported dictators with his policy of alleged “depolitization” of the Olympic Games, the human rights organization criticized. He ensured that the hypocritical approach of his predecessors that sports and politics should be separated was continued in the 21st century.

“Bach willingly let China’s head of state, Xi Jinping, decorate him with a medal instead of speaking out about his crimes against the Uyghurs, Tibetans, Mongols, and Hong Kongers. The IOC always followed Bach’s approach that the Olympic Games can be used to deny genocide crimes,” criticized Hanno Schedler, STP expert on genocide prevention and on China. Only a few weeks ago, Bach had – in the Chinese state media – praised Xi’s commitment to the Olympic movement, describing him as “a visionary leader who is always looking far ahead.” According to Bach, Xi shares the Olympic Games’ vision of connecting and to brining together people regardless of their political background. As a German citizen, Bach had – considering the propagandistic success of the Nazis with the Olympic Games in 1936 – a special responsibility to advocate for human rights. Instead, he always sought and enjoyed proximity to dictators. Now, the balance of his 12 years in office as head of the IOC is devastating,” Schedler criticized.

Shortly before the annexation of Crimea in 2014, Bach had supported the inhumane and imperialistic policy of Russian President Vladimir Putin by broadcasting the Olympic Winter Games in Sotchi. “Bach let Putin use the preparations for the Winter Games to step up repressive measures against the civil society in Russia. Under the pretext of having to guarantee safety for the Olympic Games, the regime in Russia had gone after non- governmental organizations, civil society actors, migrants, and members of minority groups. The people of the North Caucasus, close to Sotchi, were especially affected,” stated Sarah Reinke, head of human rights work and expert on eastern Europe at the STP. “Despite the annexation of Crimea and the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, Bach continued his Putin-friendly policy. Since 2023, Bach always ensured that there was an ongoing discussion about a possible end to the ban on Russian athletes at the Olympic Games,“ Reinke criticized. This year, he argued that Russian teams should be able to take part in the upcoming Olympic Games in Cortina D’Ampezzo in 2026