Asked about the Reuters report regarding Belarus seemingly banning two cross-country skiers from international competition for their supposed support of the opponents to under-fire President Alexander Lukashenko, the IOC said it was "in contact with the International Ski Federation to better understand the situation".

I am no communications or public relations expert, but surely a better answer would have been something along the lines of "we urge Belarus to ensure all athletes are free to compete"?

After all, it is not as if Belarus is listening to the IOC anyway: the country has continued with the very policy which led to provisional measures and "sanctions" being imposed on its National Olympic Committee, the latest example being preventing Sviatlana Andryiuk and Darya Dolidovich from taking part at global events.

Andryiuk, who harbours hopes of competing at Beijing 2022, and Dolidovich appear to be the most recent victims of a crackdown on perceived dissidents from the Belarusian Government.

It has been going on ever since Lukashenko, the President of the National Olympic Committee of the Republic of Belarus (NOCRB) until being replaced by his son Viktor last year, was controversially sworn into a new term in August 2020 following an election widely dismissed as neither free nor fair.

A host of Belarusian athletes have since been detained, arrested and fined for participating in anti-Government protests, which finally sparked the IOC into gear as it decided a few months later that it should take some form of action.

One of the measures announced by the IOC is "to request the NOC of Belarus and its Member Federations to ensure that there is no political discrimination in the participation of the Belarusian athletes in qualification events, and in the final selection of the team of the NOC of Belarus, for all Olympic Games".

That particular "request" - it should be demand, but this is the IOC - has been blatantly ignored in the case of Andryiuk and Dolidovich, whose chances of qualifying for Beijing 2022 are hanging by a thread because of the actions of the Belarusian Government.

Belarus has seen these "sanctions" and is taking no notice of them, laughing in the face of the IOC and its attempt to convince us its methods are sufficient to prevent it happening again.

While the IOC’s ability to influence the decisions of a Government is limited by its own admission, especially one as autocratic as in Belarus, it is clear it has not done anywhere near enough to protect athletes and stop such abuses in the former Soviet nation.

The case to suspend Belarus was hardly weak even before this latest act against athletes by the Lukashenko-led Government.

In November, Belarusian police detained world freestyle skiing champion Aliaksandra Ramanouskaya for violating anti-protest laws. She was also fined for what authorities described as an "administrative offence" without giving any further details.

As many of you will recall, sprinter Krystsina Tsimanouskaya defected to Poland after Belarusian team officials tried to forcibly send her home from the Tokyo 2020 Olympics against her will following her public criticism of her coaches in a case which triggered widespread global coverage and outrage.

The IOC is supposedly still investigating the circumstances surrounding the incident, which saw Belarus athletics head coach Yuri Moisevich and team official Artur Shumak stripped of their Olympic accreditation, but no update has been provided since the end of the Games in the Japanese capital.

Those hoping for any concrete outcomes should not hold their breath.

Minky Worden, director of Human Rights Watch, said on Twitter the cases of Andryiuk and Dolidovich - whose father Sergei Dolidovich, a cross-country skier and seven time-Olympian, also participated in anti-Government protests - were "an ugly replay from the Tokyo 2020 Olympics".

"Here’s what happens when a dictator is allowed to head a National Olympic Committee for 23 years," Worden said.

That Belarus seems to be targeting winter sport athletes before Beijing 2022, set to open on February 4, should be of grave concern to the IOC.

A reminder that, as it stands, the Belarusian flag will fly at the upcoming Winter Olympic Games. Its athletes will be there wearing the national colours, competing as Belarus and not as neutrals or as an independent team, as many feel they should be.

Put simply, Belarus does not deserve to participate at the Olympics under its own flag until it ends the crackdown and political discrimination of athletes.

It seems the IOC is looking for reasons not to suspend Belarus, when all the evidence points towards that exact course of action.

Another week, another non-decision from the IOC.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Patrizia Kummer - a lone wolf or part of an unvaccinated cohort?

I was intrigued by the story which came out this week involving Sochi 2014 Olympic snowboarding gold medallist Patrizia Kummer of Switzerland.

Kummer revealed she was not vaccinated against COVID-19 for "personal reasons", meaning she will have to quarantine for three weeks in China prior to competing at Beijing 2022 under rules in place for the Games.

The 34-year-old, who won the Olympic parallel giant slalom title at Sochi 2014, is among the first athletes heading to the Winter Olympics to confirm they are not vaccinated. 

The IOC has encouraged athletes travelling to compete at Beijing 2022 to get jabbed, but has not made it a mandatory requirement.

I wonder whether she will be joined by others who opt for the 21-day quarantine over receiving a COVID-19 vaccine. I suspect not, given how many of the predominant winter sport nations have made it a requirement for athletes to be fully protected against the novel coronavirus before they can be selected.

But it will nevertheless be interesting to see how many athletes will participate at the event, in a country which has maintained a strict "zero-COVID policy", without being vaccinated.