IOC lifts Russian Olympic Committee suspension before LA Games

The International Olympic Committee has provisionally lifted its suspension of the Russian Olympic Committee and urged sports federations to end a three-year system that vetted Russian athletes for neutral status, a major step toward bringing Russian teams back into Olympic competition before the 2028 Los Angeles Games.

The IOC executive board made the decision Tuesday in Lausanne, Switzerland, saying the conditions that led to the suspension in October 2023 no longer applied. The Russian Olympic Committee had been suspended after incorporating regional sports councils from Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine. The IOC said it accepted that the ROC no longer controlled sporting bodies in those territories.

Russia has been barred from competing at the Olympics under its own flag since 2016, first because of state-sponsored doping violations and later because of the invasion of Ukraine. The IOC said it still has not decided whether Russian athletes and teams will be allowed to compete with their flag, colors or anthem. That decision will come “at an appropriate time,” the organization said.

“The IOC stands in solidarity with the Olympic community of Ukraine, which the Olympic movement has supported since the beginning of the war, and will continue to do so,” the IOC said in a statement.

IOC President Kirsty Coventry said the move followed a rule change emphasizing that athletes should not be punished for the conduct of their governments. “We wanted to ensure all athletes have the possibility to compete at the Olympic Games and not be responsible for their government’s actions,” Coventry said. “The decision allows for Russian athletes to take part in sport competitions – but we have also been very clear that we do not support violence around the world.”

The decision removes the vetting process that required Russian athletes to prove they did not publicly support the war in Ukraine before competing as neutrals. Russian athletes will still have to follow the Olympic Charter, and the IOC said they must undergo multiple doping controls and be part of a recognized testing program before returning to international competition.

The doping requirements reflect continuing concern over Russia’s record. The Guardian reported that the Russian Anti-Doping Agency remains suspended after reports that its director general was involved in covering up drug test results at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics.

Russian participation at recent Olympics has been sharply reduced. NPR reported that 32 athletes from Russia and Belarus competed as approved neutrals at the 2024 Paris Olympics and won a combined five medals, compared with more than 300 Russian athletes and 71 medals at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. The Guardian reported that only 27 Russian athletes competed across the 2024 Summer Games in Paris and the 2026 Winter Games in Milano Cortina after undergoing vetting.

The IOC said it will continue not to organize events in Russia or invite Russian government or state officials to its events. Individual sports federations and competitions retain discretion over how to handle Russian participation. Fifa and Uefa said they have no immediate plans to allow Russian club or national teams back into international competition, while World Athletics last week upheld its ban on Russian and Belarusian athletes from international events.

Russia’s sports minister, Mikhail Degtyarev, welcomed the IOC decision and said it could prompt federations to reinstate Russian teams. “This is a clear path to ensuring that all federations of all sports reinstate Russian national teams and return them to international competitions,” he said. “We’ve done extensive diplomatic work to reinstate our athletes.”

Global Athlete and FairSport criticized the move. “By welcoming Russia back into the Olympic fold despite its history of state-sponsored doping and its ongoing war against Ukraine, the IOC has chosen to rewrite, to lower, its own standards for stakeholder accountability,” Global Athlete director general Rob Koehler said. “There is no evidence that Russia has changed.”