For some it’s yes, for others it’s no. Fifteen months before the Olympic Games (OG), a great disorder reigns in world sport as to the return, or not, of Russian and Belarusian athletes in international competitions.
This follows the decision taken on March 28 by the International Olympic Committee (IOC): it recommended their reinstatement under a neutral banner and on an individual basis, while specifying that it left it to the international federations to do so, or not, and that it was not about the Olympics.
Since then, the federations have moved forward in scattered order. Friday, April 21, that of archery thus decided to lift the exclusion of Russian and Belarusian archers, while the day before that of badminton had confirmed the maintenance of the sanctions.
“The Executive Committee has affirmed its support [aux recommandations du CIO] and agreed to explore a timetable for the return of these athletes under strict eligibility conditions, only allowing the reinstatement of those able to prove their neutrality through an independent review process.”, the archery federation said in a statement. The badminton federation (BWF) declared, for its part, that it was not “not convinced that there is a satisfactory justification for lifting the suspensions of Russian and Belarusian players and officials at this time”.
Russian and Belarusian athletes have been banned from most international competitions since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, with international federations following the ” recommendation “ then made by the IOC.
To justify maintaining the exclusion, the BWF notably calls into question the “clarity” of the “complex IOC criteria for authorizing participation” Russian and Belarusian athletes. The IOC has issued a series of recommendations to“harmonize the rules” between international federations. Russian and Belarusian athletes can only return to sports competitions as individuals and under a neutral banner. The national teams of these two countries cannot be admitted, nor can athletes who actively support the war in Ukraine, nor those who are under contract with the army or the security services.
Moreover, any Russian and Belarusian athlete ” neutral “ eligible to compete must also meet the requirements of the World Anti-Doping Agency. Finally, the flags, anthems or national symbols of the two countries remain banned from international sports competitions which cannot be organized on the territory of Russia and Belarus – competitions for which officials from the two countries cannot be invited or accredited.
Like badminton, horse riding and athletics prolonged the banishment, while table tennis, taekwondo and even fencing brought about reinstatement. The latter’s federation had been the first to make such a decision, its selection window for the Games having opened on April 3. But since then, the environment has been torn apart: hundreds of shooters have denounced the position of the federation and several European countries have given up hosting World Cup stages counting for the qualifications for the Olympic Games.