Russia-Ukraine war: IOC recommends ban on participation of Russian, Belarusian athletes from all sport; Olympic Order from Putin withdrawn

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The Executive Board (EB) of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) discussed again on Monday, the dilemma that the Olympic Movement is currently facing after the breach of the Olympic Truce by the Russian government and the government of Belarus through its support in this.

In order to protect the integrity of global sports competitions and for the safety of all the participants, the IOC EB recommended that the International Sports Federations and sports event organisers not invite or allow the participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes and officials in international competitions.

"Wherever this is not possible on short notice for organisational or legal reasons, the IOC EB strongly urges International Sports Federations and organisers of sports events worldwide to do everything in their power to ensure that no athlete or sports official from Russia or Belarus be allowed to take part under the name of Russia or Belarus. Russian or Belarusian nationals, be it as individuals or teams, should be accepted only as neutral athletes or neutral teams. No national symbols, colours, flags or anthems should be displayed," IOC in a statement said.

"The current war in Ukraine, however, puts the Olympic Movement in a dilemma. While athletes from Russia and Belarus would be able to continue to participate in sports events, many athletes from Ukraine are prevented from doing so because of the attack on their country," IOC added.

In this context, the IOC EB considered in particular the upcoming Paralympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 and reiterated its full support for the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) and the Games. The IOC EB maintained its urgent recommendation not to organise any sports event in Russia or Belarus, issued on 25 February 2022.

The IOC EB has, based on the exceptional circumstances of the situation and considering the extremely grave violation of the Olympic Truce and other violations of the Olympic Charter by the Russian government in the past, taken the ad hoc decision to withdraw the Olympic Order from all persons who currently have an important function in the government of the Russian Federation or other government-related high-ranking position, including the following: Vladimir Putin, President of the Russian Federation (Gold, 2001), Dmitry Chernyshenko, Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation (Gold, 2014), and Dmitry Kozak, Deputy Chief of Staff of the Presidential Executive Office (Gold, 2014).

The IOC EB also reaffirmed its full solidarity with the Ukrainian Olympic Community.