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The International Olympic Committee has issued recommendations for the gradual return to international competitions for Russian and Belarusian athletes, with president Thomas Bach saying their participation “works” despite the ongoing war in Ukraine.
However, the recommendations triggered angry reactions from countries opposed to Russian and Belarusian participation as well as from Russia, whose Olympic Committee chief, Stanislav Pozdnyakov, called them “absolutely unacceptable.”
The IOC had sanctioned Russia and Belarus after the February 2022 invasion but it is now eager to see athletes come back across all sports and have a chance to qualify for the 2024 Olympics, though a decision on actual participation in Paris was delayed.
“The IOC expressly reserves the right to decide on their participation at the appropriate time,” said Bach, without clarifying when that would be.
Ukraine has threatened to boycott the Paris Games should they compete there, even as neutrals.
“Participation of athletes with Russian and Belarusian passports in international competitions works,” Bach said in his address at the start of the IOC’s executive board meeting at its headquarters in Lausanne on Tuesday.
“We see this almost every day in a number of sports, most prominently in tennis but also in cycling, in some table tennis competitions.”
Russians and Belarusians have been competing as neutrals in some sports but their presence at some events, such as tennis tournaments, has triggered angry reactions from some other athletes.
Bach said the recommendations for events organisers and sports federations to follow include Russian and Belarusian athletes can only compete as neutrals, with no flag or anthem.
They cannot take part in team events and have to have a proven drugs testing record.
Athletes who support the war or are contracted to their countries’ military or national security agency cannot take part.
Bach said: “We will not be able to come up with a solution which pleases everyone. With this we may have to live.”
That quickly became clear with both sides furious.
“The parameters as announced are absolutely unacceptable,” Russian Olympic Committee president Pozdnyakov told a news conference, according to Russian news agencies.
Poland, a neighbour to Ukraine, reacted angrily.
“After Bucha, Irpin, Hostomel!! After daily bombing of civilian targets!! It’s a day of shame for the IOC!!” tweeted Deputy Foreign Minister Piotr Wawrzyk.
Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky wrote on Twitter. “We must not close our eyes to reality. Russian sport is centrally managed by the Kremlin. The Russian regime does not know what fair play is.”
“Its athletes do not belong in the Olympic Games.”