Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
There is no decision yet whether Russia will display its flag, colors or anthem at the Games.
Published on 7 Jul 2026
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has temporarily suspended the suspension of the Russian Olympic Committee, marking an important step towards Russia’s re-entry into Olympic competition ahead of the 2028 Los Angeles Games.
The IOC said Tuesday that its officials have lifted the ban but have not yet decided whether Russia will be allowed to display its flag or colors or sing its anthem at the Summer Games.
Recommended Articles
list of 4 itemsend of series
After Russia’s war in Ukraine in February 2022, a The Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) was suspended in October of that year for recognizing the Olympic regional councils in the Russian controlled regions of Ukraine – Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhia.
They insisted that they would continue to help Ukraine.
“We do not accept any war, including this one. We will continue to support Ukraine as we have done since this started. But I do not believe that athletes should pay,” IOC President Kirsty Coventry said at a press conference.
“We don’t want athletes to be held accountable for what their government is doing.”
“We made it clear that all athletes had the opportunity to compete at the Olympic Games. This is what this decision is about. It allows Russian athletes to participate in the Games. We thought it was very important for athletes to have that opportunity,” said Coventry.
He added that the IOC will continue to monitor Russia.
Nothing happened quickly from Ukraine.
Russian Sports Minister Mikhail Degtyarev said the IOC’s decision should pave the way for Russian athletes to return to international sports.
“The return of our country to the Olympic family is a green light for international organizations to restore all our athletes,” said Degtyarev.
Russian athletes participated in neutral competitions at the 2024 Paris Olympics and the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Games.
“The decision was taken following a thorough review by the IOC’s Legal Affairs Commission, considering that the ROC does not include regional sports organizations under the jurisdiction of the National Olympic Committee (NOC) of Ukraine,” the IOC said.
The IOC said in 2023 that Russia by recognizing the Olympic regional councils in the occupied territories of Ukraine violated the Olympic agreement and the integrity of the Olympic Committee of Ukraine.
Tuesday said: “The ROC confirmed that it does not, and will not, do anything in these areas. The IOC EB will continue to monitor the ROC’s activities in those areas, and reserves the right to take action if necessary.”
Doping scandals
In addition to being ignored by Russia due to its invasion of Ukraine, its athletes return to the competition comes against one of the most difficult. drug addiction in Olympic history.
The country has been under scrutiny since a 2015 World Anti-Doping Agency report found evidence of doping in Russia, followed by findings of a state-sponsored cover-up around the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics.
Russia was banned from competing under its flag in the next few Games when most athletes agreed to remain neutral, and the doping agency imposed a four-year ban in 2019 after Moscow was found to have tampered with laboratory data – a sentence that was later cut to two years by the Anti-Sports Court. Russian officials have repeatedly denied the existence of the state-sponsored program.
“We are asking to ensure that adequate testing is done for Russian athletes coming into the LA28 Games,” Coventry said.
Sanctions against Russian athletes have been lifted in various places by sports organizations around the world.
World Aquatics he ruled in April that Russian and Belarusian athletes will be allowed to compete under their national flags at international swimming and diving events after the sport’s governing body lifted their ban.
That same month, World Boxing to be allowed boxers from Russia and Belarus to compete “actively” in international competitions as neutral athletes.
The IOC recommended in May that athletes from Belarus be allowed back competing with their overall national identity and should not be considered neutral.
