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IOC Lifts Ban on Russian Olympic Committee, to Mixed Reaction

Some international federations are open to allowing Russian athletes to compete again, while others will continue to block them

The International Olympic Committee executive board has provisionally lifted the suspension of the Russian Olympic Committee, paving the way for Russian athletes to potentially compete at the LA28 Olympic Summer Games.

The suspension of the ROC had been in place since October 12, 2023, 20 months after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022. Since then, the Russian army is estimated to have occupied 20 percent of Ukraine’s internationally recognized territory (including the Crimean Peninsula and regions to the south and east of the country), and the Center for Strategic and International Studies suggested that battlefield casualties and fatalities on both sides had exceeded two million since the start of the war.

The decision to provisionally lift the ROC’s suspension was taken after analysis by the IOC’s Legal Affairs Commission. As such, the ROC will not be able to include any regional sports organizations in Ukrainian territories as its members, and nor will it be able to conduct any activity in those territories.

With the qualification period for the LA28 Olympic Games underway and the Games themselves just two years away, the IOC executive board said that it had taken into account “the need to offer equal access to all athletes” and that the conditions of participation banning Russian athletes and teams would no longer be applicable.

Two months ago, the IOC made a similar decision to no longer recommend restrictions on Belarusian athletes’ participation in the Olympic Games, following the country’s alliance with Russia in the war with Ukraine.

Selection of Russian Athletes and Teams

The ROC will be required to ensure that its athletes “respect, uphold and promote a peaceful society through sport”, in line with the Olympic Charter. In addition, all Russian athletes returning to international competition must prove that they meet all anti-doping requirements and best practices established by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).

It will now be at the discretion of each international federation (IF) and international sports event organizer to determine if events and sports competitions can be held in Russia, if Russian government or state officials can be invited, and if the Russian flag, anthem, colors or other identifications can be displayed.

The IOC maintained that it would not organize events in Russia nor invite Russian government or state officials to its events for the foreseeable future. A decision about whether or not to display the Russian flag, anthem, colors or other identifications at the Olympic Games has yet to be formalized.

LA28 Qualification and Selection

Each IF will be tasked with establishing the timeframe for qualification events for the LA28 Olympic Games, including testing for international competition.

If the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) is still considered non-compliant by the World Anti-Doping Agency in 2028, qualified Russian athletes will be subject to increased independent testing ahead of the LA28 Olympic Games.

LA28 is already set to make history by featuring more female competitors than male athletes for the first time. A quota of 5,655 female and 5,543 male athletes has been approved, meaning that women will make up more than 50.5 percent of the 11,198 athletes competing in the Games.

Some Russian athletes have been allowed to compete in IOC events since the Olympic Summer Games in Paris in 2024, albeit as neutral athletes with no reference to Russia and while being subject to rigorous anti-doping testing.

However, six Russian athletes were allowed to participate in the Milan-Cortina 2026 Paralympic Winter Games under their national flag and anthem — a decision that provoked widespread backlash across the global sporting community.

Reactions

The IOC decision generated a wave of comments from political figures and athletes alike.

“Absolutely shameful decision,” wrote Vladyslav Heraskevych (the Ukrainian skeleton racer disqualified from the 2026 Olympic Winter Games for wearing a helmet honoring his country’s killed soldiers) on X. “The IOC leadership is hitting yet another new low with its actions. The current IOC leadership increasingly looks like yet another Russian asset that is simply working for Russian propaganda. And all of this is happening against the backdrop of residential buildings being shelled in Ukraine, which literally happens every other day.”

“Disgusted to see this decision from the International Olympic Committee,” wrote U.S. Representative Joe Wilson. “This is the first step down a slippery slope to letting war criminal Putin allow his doped-up athletes compete in the U.S. under Russia’s flag. Glorifiers of war crimes shouldn’t be allowed in the Olympics at all, let alone allowed to compete under their own flag.”

“It is an important step toward reinstating our athletes’ legitimate rights to participate in international competitions,” Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. “Work will continue through our sports authorities. They are conducting this work constantly and consistently, and this work will continue.”

The International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) said that Russian athletes and technical officials in all disciplines would be allowed to return to FIVB, World and official competitions. It added in a statement that the Russian national teams would be restored with the same world ranking points as they had at the time when their points were initially frozen.

World Aquatics President Husain Al Musallam said that the organization “remains as determined as ever to ensure that water remains a place where we can be united in peaceful competition.” It follows World Aquatics’ decision in April to allow senior Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete in its events on the same terms as their counterparts from other countries.

World Athletics has said that it will not follow suit, confirming that Russian athletes will continue to be banned from its track and field events.

Meanwhile, UEFA and FIFA are yet to announce their outright positions publicly in soccer. It is believed that UEFA is prepared to continue to prevent Russia and its domestic teams from competing in UEFA competitions, although a FIFA spokesperson said that the association would “analyze the decision before deciding on next steps in coordination with the relevant stakeholders.”