Russia Reacts to IOC's Decision to Restore Olympic Committee Rights

The Executive Board of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has temporarily reinstated the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) nearly three years after its suspension. According to Russian Sports Minister Mikhail Degtyarev, the IOC Executive Board also abolished all neutrality checks for Russian athletes and lifted the ban on holding international sporting events in Russia. The decision followed Russia's cancellation of the establishment of Olympic organizations in the Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics, as well as the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions.

Photo: en.kremlin.ru by Presidential Executive Office of Russia, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Olympic Games

"The IOC has lifted restrictions on team sports and appealed to all international federations with a proposal to restore our flag, anthem, and national teams at international competitions. (...) The Russian Olympic Committee has been reinstated with full rights," Degtyarev said.

According to Degtyarev, the IOC's decision removes all restrictions previously imposed on the Russian Olympic Committee. He added that the Ministry of Sport will continue negotiations with the IOC regarding the reinstatement of Russian athletes in various international sports federations, emphasizing that the decision opens a direct path toward the return of Russian national teams to international competition across all sports.

State Duma deputy Dmitry Svishchev said Russia had maintained a continuous dialogue with the IOC.

"I believe this is wonderful news. Over the past hundred years, this is probably the best news in the world of sport," Svishchev said.

'We Must Be Ready for Resistance'

Sports commentator and adviser to the Sports Minister Dmitry Guberniev stressed that the process of fully returning Russian athletes to international competition is not yet complete.

"Now it is very important to see how the international federations respond. We must be prepared for resistance. The IOC's decision is excellent, but we need to watch how the federations react," Guberniev said.

'A Step Toward Return'

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova welcomed the IOC's decision, saying that "common sense has prevailed."

"World sport will continue. It will continue with Russia!" she wrote.

Honored USSR coach Tatyana Tarasova also described the decision as a step toward Russia's return to international sport. She called the suspension of Russian national teams unfair and said athletes had lost four and a half years without participating in international competitions.

Why IOC Reinstates ROC

Sergey Alekseyev, chairman of the Sports Law Commission of the Russian Lawyers Association, said the IOC no longer had legal grounds to maintain sanctions against the Russian Olympic Committee after Russia reversed its decision to establish Olympic organizations in the new territories.

According to Alekseyev, the IOC restored the committee's rights in order to observe how Russian sport would be administered in those regions.

"After the ROC was reinstated, there are absolutely no legal grounds for sanctions against Russian athletes participating in international competitions or for preventing international sporting events from being held in Russia," he said.

Background

On February 28, 2022, the IOC recommended that international sports federations bar Russian athletes from competitions. Following the start of the military operation in Ukraine, the organization also called for international sporting events in Russia and Belarus to be canceled or relocated.

On October 12, 2023, the IOC suspended the Russian Olympic Committee after it accepted the Olympic councils of the Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics, as well as the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions, into its membership. IOC Communications Director Mark Adams said the move violated Ukraine's territorial integrity and made it impossible for the ROC to receive IOC funding.