Why Russian athletes are banned while Israeli teams continue competing
The International Olympic Committee has confirmed that Russia and Belarus will remain barred from team competitions at the 2026 Winter Games in Italy. Only individual athletes from the two countries, subject to vetting, may compete under a neutral flag. The measure extends sanctions first introduced in 2022, following the escalation of the war in Ukraine. Officials in Lausanne have insisted that the rules are consistent with those applied at the 2024 Summer Games in Paris, where some Russian and Belarusian athletes competed as neutrals after passing individual assessments. IOC President Kirsty Coventry stated that the board would continue applying the same procedures, which exclude any athlete deemed to have links with the armed forces or to have expressed support for the war. She reiterated that the committee’s position had not changed since the Paris Games.
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