IOC board approves participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes for Paris Olympics under neutral flag

The International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) executive board has approved the participation of the Russian and Belarusian athletes in the Paris Games after a meeting on Friday (Dec 8). The executive board approved the participation of the athletes on certain terms provided they participate under a neutral flag and are not in support of the Russia-Ukraine war. Athletes affiliated with the Russian and Belarusian military are also not liable to participate in the games that will start in August 2024 in the French capital.

IOC approves Russian and Belarusian athletes

The IOC's executive board "decided 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".

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According to IOC only eight athletes from Russia and three from Belarus have qualified as neutral athletes for the Paris Olympics.

Russian athletes were earlier banned from participating in the Olympics after the nation launched a war against Ukraine in March 2022. This resulted in athletes getting banned from representing the nation in any international event. Belarusian athletes were also on the receiving end after the nation declared support for Russia. As a result, Russian sports faced a huge backlash from the international federations.

The governing body of European football suspended the Russian Football Association while tennis players were asked to compete under neutral flags. Russia was stripped of hosting the 2022 Champions League final while the national side was also thrown out of the FIFA World Cup qualifiers.

What are the conditions of IOC?

The exclusion includes "teams of athletes with a Russian or Belarusian passport". Also missing out will be "athletes who actively support the war" as well as "athletes who are contracted to the Russian or Belarusian military or national security agencies".

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Additionally, "no flag, anthem, colours or any other identifications whatsoever of Russia or Belarus will be displayed at the Olympic Games Paris 2024 in any official venue or any official function".

As expected, the IOC also stated that no Russian or Belarusian government or state officials will be invited to the Paris Games.

"No Russian or Belarusian government or state officials will be invited to or accredited for the Olympic Games Paris 2024."

The ban also means, Russia will compete at the Olympics under a neutral flag for the second consecutive time having also faced a similar incident in the 2020 Games. Russian athletes were entered by and represented the "Russian Olympic Committee", using the acronym "ROC", due to the consequences of the doping scandal in the country.