IOC temporarily lifts ban on Russian Olympic Committee ahead of Olympics LA 28 – What it means | More sports news

The Olympic cauldron is lit at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum before ticket registration for the 2028 Summer Olympics begins Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP photo)

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has asked international sports federations to end the three-year process of vetting Russian athletes for neutral status ahead of qualifying competitions for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.This decision follows the IOC’s recommendation two months ago that athletes from Russia and Belarus be allowed to compete again under their national identities. Belarus was a military ally of Russia during its invasion of Ukraine.“The IOC stands in solidarity with the Olympic community of Ukraine, which the Olympic movement has supported since the beginning of the war, and will continue to do so,” the IOC said in a statement after the executive board meeting.The IOC also relaxed the conditions for Russian athletes and teams to compete in IOC competitions and temporarily lifted the suspension of the Russian Olympic Committee that had been in effect since October 2023.The suspension was initially imposed after the Russian Olympic Committee involved regional sports councils from the occupied territories of Ukraine. The IOC said that these conditions no longer apply.“The decision was made after a thorough analysis by the IOC Legal Affairs Commission, given that the ROC (Russian Olympic Committee) no longer includes as members any regional sports organization in the territories under the jurisdiction of the National Olympic Committee (NOC) of Ukraine,” the IOC statement said.Only 32 athletes from Russia and Belarus competed as sanctioned neutral athletes at the 2024 Paris Olympics, where they won a combined five medals. By comparison, Russia had more than 300 athletes who won 71 medals at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.The IOC has not yet decided whether Russian athletes and teams will be allowed to compete under the Russian flag and national anthem.That decision will come “at the appropriate time,” the IOC said.The next Olympic event on the calendar is the 2026 Summer Youth Games in Dakar, Senegal, starting on October 31.The IOC also said Russian athletes must pass multiple doping tests and be part of a recognized anti-doping testing program before returning to international competition.The measures are needed to “address the lack of confidence in the global sports community regarding the return of Russian athletes to international competition,” the IOC said.The Olympic body also confirmed it would not continue to “organise IOC events in Russia or invite Russian governments or government officials to its events”.