The International Olympic Committee recommends lifting the ban on Belarus Olympic news

The International Olympic Committee is urging sports federations to allow Belarusian athletes to compete again without being voted neutral.

Athletes from Belarus should also compete with their national identity and not be tempted to interfere, the International Olympic Committee has said.

Despite advice to the sport’s governing body that Russia is no longer active, it appears to be nearing the end of Russia’s isolation from the Olympic team in its war against Ukraine.

An obstacle to Russia’s return is the World Anti-Doping Agency’s investigation into recent reports about the head of Russia’s anti-doping agency Veronika Loginova.

The IOC said its executive committee saw “with immediate concern” WADA’s investigation, without naming Loginova.

Athletes from Russia and Belarus were to be accepted as neutrals who did not support the war in individual events at the 2024 Paris Olympics and February’s Milano Cortina Winter Olympics. A total of 32 athletes from the two countries competed in Paris, to win five events, including the trampoline gold and the athlete from Belarus.

“The IOC reaffirms that the participation of athletes in international competition should not be limited by the actions of their governments, including participation in war or conflict,” the Olympic organization said on Thursday.

The IOC noted that the qualifying period for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics “will begin this summer.”

The Russian Olympic Committee has been suspended by the IOC from October 2023 for including the sports federations of the eastern region of Ukraine where it is illegally occupied.

“Although the ROC negotiated the suspension successfully with the IOC,” the IOC said, “it is being suspended while the IOC Legal Affairs Commission continues to review the matter.”