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IOC provisionally lifts suspension of Russian Olympic Committee ahead of Los Angeles 2028
IOC provisionally lifts suspension of Russian Olympic Committee ahead of 2028 Games
The International Olympic Committee provisionally lifted on Tuesday the suspension of the Russian Olympic Committee, clearing the way for Russian athletes to compete at the 2028 Los Angeles Games while leaving open the question of whether they will be allowed to display national symbols.
The IOC Executive Board said the ROC “no longer includes as its members any regional sports organisations in territories falling under the jurisdiction” of Ukraine’s Olympic Committee and had pledged not to conduct activities in those areas, conditions that were not met when the suspension was imposed in October 2023 after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. “The International Olympic Committee Executive Board has provisionally lifted the suspension of the Russian Olympic Committee,” the IOC said in a statement .
IOC President Kirsty Coventry told a press conference that the decision enables athletes to qualify on sporting merit while stressing that the committee will continue to monitor Russia closely. “We made it clear that all athletes had the possibility to compete at the Olympic Games,” she said. “This is what this decision speaks to. It allows Russian athletes to take part in sports competitions” . Russian Sports Minister Mikhail Degtyarev welcomed the move, saying it “should clear the way for Russian athletes to make a full return to the international sporting stage” and that “our country’s return to the Olympic family is a green light for international federations to reinstate all our athletes” .
The IOC has not yet decided whether Russia may display its flag, colours or play its anthem at the Games. It also reiterated that it “will continue to not organise IOC events in Russia or invite Russian government or state officials to its events.” Russian and Belarusian athletes competed as neutrals at the 2024 Paris Olympics and the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Games, where 32 Russian and Belarusian athletes won five medals combined, compared with 71 medals won by more than 300 Russian competitors at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.
Ukrainian skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych, disqualified from the 2026 Winter Olympics for a helmet message about Ukraine, called the IOC decision “absolutely shameful” and said it “feels like the IOC are leaving us behind and don’t care what’s going on in our country” . British Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said she was “appalled” with the decision .
The IOC said its Legal Affairs Commission had conducted a “thorough analysis” and found that the ROC had formally removed regional sports bodies from occupied Ukrainian territories—Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia—from its membership and pledged no future activities there. The commission concluded that the previous grounds for suspension “no longer apply,” though it stressed that the decision is provisional and subject to ongoing review .
FIFA said it would “analyse the decision” before deciding on next steps regarding Russia’s ban from international football, which has been in place since February 2022 . World Athletics has already rejected an IOC recommendation to lift restrictions on Belarusian athletes and teams.
The IOC reiterated its condemnation of the war in Ukraine but maintained that athletes’ participation should not be limited by their government’s involvement in the conflict. “We recognise that an athlete’s participation in international competition should not be limited by the involvement of their government in a war or conflict,” the IOC said .
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