Russia could return to some international sporting events and Olympic qualifiers by competing as part of Asia, rather than Europe.
International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach welcomed a “creative” plan on Friday to allow athletes from Russia and its ally Belarus to join competitions in Asia after more than nine months of isolation from most of Olympic sports after the invasion of Ukraine.
The statement did not directly address whether Russia and Belarus can send teams to the 2024 Paris Olympics, but a move from Europe to Asia offers a potential way for Russian athletes to compete in continental events that serve as qualifiers for the Games. Qualifying in some sports is already underway.
The IOC recommended on February 28, four days after the Russian invasion of Ukraine began, that Russian and Belarusian athletes should be excluded from competition, citing concerns about the safety and integrity of the competitions. Most Olympic sports followed suit and imposed bans.
The Olympic Summit, a conference organized by the International Olympic Committee and chaired by President Thomas Bach, agreed on Friday that the IOC “will lead further exploration” of an Olympic Council of Asia initiative to allow Russia and Belarus to compete there, according to to a statement. A series of consultations with sports federations, athletes and national sports bodies is planned.
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Bach “thanked the OCA for their creative initiative,” the statement on the IOC website reads. Russia has territory in Europe and Asia, but is traditionally considered part of Europe for the purposes of sporting events.
“In the course of the debate, the interim president of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) stated that, on the Asian continent, the reasons for protective measures no longer exist,” the IOC statement said.
“OCA offered to facilitate the participation of athletes from Russia and Belarus in competitions in Asia under its authority, respecting the existing sanctions.”
International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach at the Executive Board meeting at the Olympic House in Lausanne, Switzerland, on December 5, 2022. Bach devised a plan to allow Russian athletes to compete in international competitions and Olympic qualifiers. .
(Denis Balibouse/Keystone via AP, Group)
The IOC draws a distinction between what it calls “sanctions,” such as preventing Russia from hosting sporting events and displaying national symbols at competitions, and “protective measures” of excluding Russian athletes.
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Bach said on Wednesday that his organization preferred not to exclude Russian and Belarusian athletes but had to do so because, when it did so in February, national governments were seeking to impose their own restrictions.
Ukraine has opposed the decision to invite Russian Olympic Committee President Stanislav Pozdnyakov to the conference. No representatives from Ukraine were listed on the attendance list published by the IOC for the invitation-only event. Besides Russia, only the United States and China had their national Olympic bodies represented.
Sports federations are not required to follow IOC recommendations and some may maintain restrictions in Russia and Belarus. World Athletics president Seb Coe said last week that Russia must “get out of Ukraine” before it is readmitted to athletics. Coe was on the guest list for the Olympic Summit, but on Friday he was listed as “excused.”
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The IOC has allowed Russian athletes at the Olympics before without the country’s flag or anthem. A decade of doping disputes led to the Russian team being known as Olympians of Russia or the Russian Olympic Committee for three consecutive Winter and Summer Olympics.
If Russian athletes return to global competitions, as opposed to continental ones, Ukrainian athletes could boycott the events in protest. When the International Judo Federation allowed Russia and Belarus to compete under a neutral flag, Ukraine refused to compete, claiming that many members of the Russian team were also serving as members of the military. The IJF excluded Russia and Belarus in September until January 2023.
