Russian and Belarusian youth athletes should compete in international events without access restrictions, the International Olympic Committee said on Thursday, marking a first step in easing sanctions imposed following Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
The International Olympic Committee took a big step toward reintegrating Russia and Belarus into world sports Thursday by advising governing bodies to let the countries’ youth teams and athletes compete with their full identity of national flag and anthem.
Athletes have “a fundamental right to access sport across the world, and to compete free from political interference or pressure from governmental organizations,” the IOC said in a statement.
That message in support of athletes will be welcomed in Russia and Israel, whose athletes have faced recent discrimination, and comes less than three years out from the 2028 Los Angeles Summer Games that risks facing political crosswinds in the United States.
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The updated Olympic strategy gave Russia significant progress in sports politics at a time when Moscow appears to be making no political or military concessions to Ukraine.
The IOC move is separate to the upcoming Milan Cortina Winter Games where a small group of Russian and Belarusian athletes will compete as neutral individuals who pass vetting for not having publicly supported the war.
The decision came at an Olympic Summit, an annual meeting chaired by IOC president Kirsty Coventry that invites key stakeholders from the Olympic family.
The IOC said its Olympic summit this week backed its executive board’s recommendation to allow youth athletes from these countries to participate in both individual and team sports, though the IOC noted implementation would require time.
“In light of the discussion around the principles, the Summit supported the IOC EB’s recommendation that youth athletes with a Russian or Belarusian passport should no longer be restricted in their access to international youth competitions, in both individual and team sports,” it said in a statement.
“The Summit participants committed to take these discussions back to their organisations for their consideration. It was recognized that implementation by the stakeholders will take time.”
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The IOC said standard protocols regarding flags and anthems should apply and that these principles should be in place at the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games.
The IOC said they were also “recommended for adoption by all international federations and International Sports Event Organisers for their own youth events.”
