The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has moved to clear the way for Russia’s return to the Olympic Games, provisionally lifting a suspension of the country’s national Olympic body ahead of qualifying for the 2028 Los Angeles Games.
The Lausanne-based organisation also advised sports federations on July 7 to end a three-year programme that had vetted Russian competitors for neutral status.
The Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) was suspended in October 2023 after it incorporated regional sports councils from Russian-occupied areas of eastern Ukraine.
The IOC said the ROC had since confirmed it would not carry out any activities in those territories, and that its legal affairs commission had cleared the body to return.
The committee stopped short of allowing Russian athletes and teams to compete under their national flag and anthem, saying that decision would come “at an appropriate time”.
IOC President Kirsty Coventry, a two-time Olympic swimming champion for Zimbabwe, said the body did not “want to hold athletes accountable for the actions of their governments”.
She defended the ruling as fair and said Russian athletes would still face multiple doping controls and monitoring of their social media accounts.
The shift also signalled a possible return for Russia in team events, which had been shut out entirely since the ban was imposed following the 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
Just 32 athletes from Russia and Belarus competed as neutrals at the 2024 Paris Olympics, winning five medals between them.
Russia sent more than 300 athletes to the 2021 Tokyo Games, where they returned with 71 medals, including 20 titles.
The National Olympic Committee of Ukraine said it strongly disagreed with the ruling, describing it as premature and unjustified while Moscow’s invasion continued.
The ruling came less than 48 hours after a deadly Russian missile and drone attack on Kyiv, though the IOC said its stance on the war had not changed.
The guidance is not binding on the governing bodies of individual sports.
World Athletics has kept its ban on Russian and Belarusian competitors, while football’s FIFA and UEFA continue to exclude Russian teams.
Russian sports minister Mikhail Degtyaryov welcomed the move, saying it showed the Olympic movement should remain free of politics.
