The International Olympic Committee this week announced it will not extend an invitation to the Russian and Belarusian national teams for the 2024 games in Paris.
The IOC said that 203 national teams will receive their traditional invites on July 26, but Russia and Belarus will not be among them.
In a statement on the matter, the IOC said that athletes with Russian and Belarusian passports may be able to compete but would have to do so as individual, neutral athletes and not as representatives of their states or as supporters for the war in Ukraine.
The committee put forth the following criteria for Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete:
- Athletes with a Russian or a Belarusian passport must compete only as Individual Neutral Athletes.
- Teams of athletes with a Russian or Belarusian passport cannot be considered.
- Athletes who actively support the war cannot compete. Support personnel who actively support the war cannot be entered.
- Athletes who are contracted to the Russian or Belarusian military or national security agencies cannot compete. Support personnel who are contracted to the Russian or Belarusian military or national security agencies cannot be entered.
- Any such Individual Neutral Athlete, like all the other participating athletes, must meet all anti-doping requirements applicable to them, and particularly those set out in the anti-doping rules of the IFs.
- The sanctions against those responsible for the war, the Russian and Belarusian states and governments, must remain in place:
- No international sports events organised or supported by an IF or NOC in Russia or Belarus
- No flag, anthem, colours or any other identifications whatsoever of these countries displayed at any sports event or meeting, including the entire venue.
- No Russian and Belarusian government or state official can be invited to or accredited for any international sports event or meeting.
Read Next
