The International Olympic Committee (IOC) recently announced that Russian and Belarusian athletes who qualify for the Paris 2024 Olympics can participate as neutrals, without any flags, emblems, or anthems at the event.
This decision comes after Russia invaded Ukraine last year, for which Belarus was used as a staging ground, which initially led to a ban on these athletes from competing internationally.
In March, the IOC released a set of recommendations for international sports federations to allow Russian and Belarusian competitors to return, leading to their return in most events.
However, Athletics, the biggest sport in the Games, has maintained its ban on these athletes following the invasion, and it is unlikely that they will be allowed to return to competition.
The decision of the IOC has been condemned by Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, who called it “shameful.”
Russia’s Sports Minister Oleg Matytsin also criticized the “discriminatory” conditions set by the IOC for Russian athletes’ participation at the Olympics.
The IOC stated that Individual Neutral Athletes (AINs) who have qualified through the existing qualification systems of the International Federations (IFs) on the field of play will be declared eligible to compete at the Olympic Games Paris 2024.
Individual Neutral Athletes are athletes with a Russian or Belarusian passport, who will only compete in individual sports, and no teams for the two countries will be allowed.
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Athletes who actively support the war in Ukraine are not eligible, nor are those contracted to the Russian or Belarusian military.
The IOC has also stated that no Russian or Belarusian government or state official will be invited to or accredited for Paris 2024.
Despite the IOC’s decision, Paris Games organisers have taken note of the situation, while Ukraine and Russia have expressed their anger.
Ukraine’s foreign minister Kuleba said that “the IOC essentially gave Russia the green light to weaponize the Olympics,” while Ukraine’s acting sports minister Matviy Bidnyy said that they would decide on their participation in the Paris Games later, after consulting with the Ukrainian sports community and the country’s top political leadership.
Russia’s Sports Minister Matytsin called the IOC’s approach “unacceptable.”
Of the 4,600 athletes globally, who have qualified for the Games so far, eight are Russians, and three hold Belarusian passports, while more than 60 Ukrainians have qualified.
Athletics’ suspension of Russia for state-sponsored doping was lifted this year, but after the invasion of Ukraine, all Russians and Belarusians were banned from the sport.
Following the IOC decision, World Athletics (WA) has excluded all athletes, support personnel, and officials from Russia and Belarus from all World Athletics Series events and from hosting any International or European athletics events.
The exclusion will apply to Paris 2024 unless there is a major change in circumstances before the Olympic Games.
While the IOC decides which countries are invited to participate, it is the responsibility of the IFs (international federations) to decide which athletes within their sport are eligible to compete.
