Enduring global conflicts have renewed debates and spurred difficult decisions on whether to penalize sporting and cultural figures for their governments’ actions.
Israel on Thursday was officially cleared to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest, prompting the Netherlands, Spain, Ireland, and Slovenia to pull out of next year’s competition, citing Israel’s offensive in Gaza. “Culture unites, but not at any price,” a Dutch broadcasting executive said.
Meanwhile, Russia — which has been banned from Eurovision since the 2022 invasion of Ukraine — won an appeal, along with Belarus, allowing its competitors to qualify for the upcoming Winter Olympics as “neutral athletes,” after a nearly four-year blanket ban. Russia, though, is still banned from the FIFA men’s World Cup next year.