The International Olympic Committee provisionally lifted its suspension of the\u00a0Russian Olympic Committee on Tuesday, marking a big step towards\u00a0Russia\u2019s reintegration into the Olympic fold ahead of the Los Angeles 2028 Games.<\/p>\n
Following\u00a0Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the ROC was suspended in October 2023 for recognizing regional Olympic councils in\u00a0Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine \u2014 Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia.<\/p>\n
The IOC said on Tuesday its executive board had lifted that suspension, which is able to see\u00a0Russian athletes back in lots of international competitions including LA28 Olympic qualifiers, but had not yet decided whether\u00a0Russia\u00a0could display its flag and colours or have its anthem played on the Games.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t condone any wars, including this one. We’ll proceed to support Ukraine like now we have since this began. But I don\u2019t consider athletes should pay the value,\u201d IOC President Kirsty Coventry told a press conference. \u201cWe don\u2019t need to hold athletes accountable for the actions of their government.\u201d<\/p>\n
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The choice marks the most recent step by the IOC to ease\u00a0Russia\u2019s return to international sport after urging federations in December to readmit\u00a0Russian and Belarusian youth athletes (under-23s).<\/p>\n
\u201cWe made it clear that each one athletes had the chance to compete on the Olympic Games. That is what this decision speaks to. It allows\u00a0Russian athletes to participate in sports competitions. We thought it was really essential for athletes to have that possibility,\u201d Coventry said.<\/p>\n
Russian sports minister Mikhail Degtyarev said the IOC\u2019s decision should clear the best way for\u00a0Russian athletes to make a full return to the international sporting stage.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur country\u2019s return to the Olympic family is a green light for international federations to reinstate all our athletes,\u201d Degtyarev said.<\/p>\n
Russian athletes competed as neutrals on the 2024 Paris\u00a0Olympics\u00a0and on the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Games.<\/p>\n
\u2018Shameful decision\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n But there was criticism, with Ukraine\u2019s foreign ministry calling the choice\u00a0\u2018troubling\u2019<\/a>\u00a0and urging countries hosting competitions to uphold a ban on\u00a0Russian state symbols.<\/p>\n Ukrainian\u00a0skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych, who was\u00a0disqualified<\/a>\u00a0from the 2026 Winter\u00a0Olympics\u00a0over a helmet carrying a message about Ukraine, told Reuters the IOC\u2019s decision was \u201cabsolutely shameful<\/a>\u201d.<\/p>\n Get breaking Canada news delivered to your inbox because it happens so you will not miss a trending story.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Athlete-led advocacy group Global Athlete and FairSport said the choice showed little accountability by the IOC amid an ongoing conflict.<\/p>\n Story continues below commercial<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n \u201cThis decision represents a fundamental departure from the principles of Olympism. By welcoming\u00a0Russia\u00a0back into the Olympic fold despite its history of state-sponsored doping and its ongoing war against Ukraine, the IOC has chosen to rewrite, to lower, its own standards for stakeholder accountability,\u201d they said in a joint statement.<\/p>\n![\"Get](\"https:\/\/globalnews.ca\/wp-content\/themes\/shaw-globalnews\/images\/skyline\/national.jpg\")
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