However, the Olympic Committee has not yet decided whether the Russian symbols can be displayed in competitions.

On Tuesday, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) provisionally lifted the suspension of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC), which had been in effect since October 2023. It also recommended that international federations remove restrictions stemming from the Ukrainian war and the doping program.

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The IOC will allow Russian athletes to compete at the 2028 Los Angeles Summer Olympics under the name Russia. At the 2024 Summer Olympics and the 2026 Winter Olympics, they competed as neutral athletes.

The decision supports normalizing the status of Russian athletes, although the IOC has postponed its decision on the display of the Russian flag, anthem, color, or other symbols at Olympic competitions. It also said it will not organize events in Russia or invite members of the Russian government to its events.

The decision followed an opinion issued by the IOC’s Legal Affairs Commission, which found that the ROC no longer includes among its members any regional sports organization in territories under the jurisdiction of the National Olympic Committee of Ukraine.

With the qualification period for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics now underway, “and given the need to provide equal access to all athletes,” the IOC decided that the participation conditions previously imposed on international federations and organizers of international sporting events “are no longer applicable.”

In accordance with the Olympic Charter, the ROC must ensure that athlete selection is based not only on athletic performance but also on athletes’ ability to serve as role models who respect, uphold, and promote a peaceful society through sport.

“To address the lack of confidence within the global sports community regarding the return of Russian athletes to international competition, and in light of recent allegations concerning the governance of the Russian Anti-Doping Agency, and pending confirmation that the readmission conditions related to the World Anti-Doping Code have been met, all Russian athletes returning to international competition must comply with the relevant anti-doping requirements,” the IOC said.

In particular, those requirements include those established under the IOC’s anti-doping rules and the rules of the international federations, as well as the best practices established by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).

Accordingly, Russian athletes returning to international competition must be part of a national anti-doping program delegated to the International Testing Agency and must have undergone multiple tests before returning, based on a sports risk assessment.

“If WADA continues to determine that RUSADA remains noncompliant in 2028, before the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games, the IOC will instruct the ITA to ensure that all qualified Russian athletes have undergone independent testing under the same procedure.”

Finally, the Olympic Committee concluded that hosting sporting events and competitions in Russia, inviting Russian officials, or allowing the display of the Russian flag, anthem, colors or other symbols is “at the discretion of each international federation and organizer of international sporting events, and should reflect the situation of their national federations.”

The IOC said it will not do so under any circumstances. As for the display of the Russian flag, anthem, colors or other symbols at the Olympic Games, it said it will make a decision “at the appropriate time.”

teleSUR/ JF

Sources: EFE – IOC

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