Olympic funds requested by the nine EU countries on the recalculation of Russia | Olympic news

Nine European Union countries are asking for cuts to sports organizations including the International Olympic Committee for the return of Russian athletes.

Nine European countries have asked the European Union to cut funding to sports organizations including the International Olympic Committee (IOC), which would allow athletes from Russia and Belarus to return to competition, Estonia’s Ministry of Culture said.

Submitted to the European Commissioner for ⁠Intergenerational Fairness, Youth, Culture and Sport Glenn Micallef, the proposal is aimed at major organizations including the IOC, World Aquatics and the International Fencing Federation (FIE).

The move represents a major push by EU countries to use the bloc’s funds against international sports organizations over the return of Russian and Belarusian athletes, and has sparked potential tensions between European governments and the Olympic team ahead of the 2028 Los Angeles Games.

The IOC, World Aquatics and FIE did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

On July 7, the IOC executive committee temporarily suspended the suspension of the Russian Olympic Committee and said previous restrictions on Russian athletes, imposed in response to the four-and-a-half year war in Ukraine, no longer apply.

Nine European countries – Estonia, Denmark, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania and Sweden – have asked these governing bodies to be removed from the EU’s Erasmus+ and other financial aid programmes.

“Respecting human rights, the law, and peaceful relations between countries are among the main principles supporting international sports and the Olympic system,” they wrote in the letter.

Nine countries say allowing Russian and Belarusian athletes to return to competition ignores the reality of Ukrainian competitors, who cannot train under the same conditions due to displacement, infrastructure damage, or military service.

“Any claim that sport can be separated from politics is absurd when thousands of innocent Ukrainians have lost their lives and when sport continues to be supported by the governments of Russia and Belarus,” he said.

In addition to stripping sports organizations of financial support, nine countries decided to limit the participation of dissident organizations in major European sports arenas and EU-led development talks.