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12/11 11:05 CST IOC advises sports bodies to let Russian youth teams, athletes
compete again with flag and anthem
IOC advises sports bodies to let Russian youth teams, athletes compete again
with flag and anthem
By GRAHAM DUNBAR
AP Sports Writer
GENEVA (AP) --- The IOC took a big step toward reintegrating Russia and Belarus
into world sports Thursday by advising governing bodies to let the countries'
youth teams and athletes compete with their full identity of national flag and
anthem.
Athletes have "a fundamental right to access sport across the world, and to
compete free from political interference or pressure from governmental
organizations," the International Olympic Committee said in a statement.
That message in support of athletes will be welcomed in Russia and Israel,
whose athletes have faced recent discrimination, and comes less than three
years out from the 2028 Los Angeles Summer Games that risks facing political
crosswinds in the United States.
The updated strategy on Russia was set at a so-called Olympic Summit --- a
meeting chaired by IOC president Kirsty Coventry that invites key stakeholders
from the Olympic family.
"It was recognized that implementation by the stakeholders will take time," the
IOC said in a statement, adding that each sport's governing body should decide
how to define youth events.
Some sports bodies likely will face resistance from their national member
federations, especially in Europe, to the updated IOC advice which repeats that
Russia should still not be picked to host international events.
The IOC's latest move to ease the sporting isolation of Russia can apply to its
own Youth Olympic Games which are held next year in Dakar, Senegal, from Oct.
31 to Nov. 13. The Russian Olympic body is still formally suspended by the IOC
and currently could not compete with its national identity.
"The above principles should apply to the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games, and
are recommended for adoption by all governing bodies and international sports
event organizers for their own?youth?events," the IOC said.
Russian teams have been fully excluded from international soccer, track and
field and other sports since the full military invasion of Ukraine in February
2022, while Russian and Belarusian athletes in winter sports are now starting
to return with neutral status ahead of the Milan Cortina Olympics in February.
A small group of Russian and Belarusian athletes competed as neutrals without
their national identity at the Paris Summer Games last year, where those
countries were banned from team sports.
A previous attempt to enable Russia's potential return to youth sports was met
with strong pushback by European soccer federations including Ukraine in
September 2023.
European soccer body UEFA moved to reintegrate Russian Under-17 teams into its
competitions but dropped its policy within weeks amid boycott threats by at
least 12 of the 55 member federations.
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AP Winter Olympics at https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
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