R ussia and Belarus return to the Olympic stage – with flags, anthem, and all the national frills that belong to international sports competitions. No, at the upcoming Winter Olympic Games in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo it is not yet time. There, only a few handpicked female and male athletes from the two warring countries are allowed to compete as so-called neutrals.
At the Summer Youth Olympic Games in Dakar, Senegal, the flags of the Russian Federation and Belarus are to be raised. It would be the first time since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 that the two countries may display their national symbols again in the Olympic arena.
New Rules Until Summer
Under the directive of the Executive Board of the International Olympic Committee, at the so-called Olympic Summit in early December the recommendation was adopted to allow youth athletes from Russia and Belarus to participate in international competitions again. The recommendations of this invitation committee, which besides IOC President Kristy Coventry and her deputies also includes heads of national Olympic committees and international sports federations such as senior track and field chief Sebastian Coe and FIFA President Gianni Infantino, are usually followed in the sports world.
The expectation that the sport federations will have implemented the new rules by the summer youth Games is unambiguously stated in the IOC’s announcement. As for adult sport, for now it remains with the IOC’s guidelines, which advise allowing only Russian and Belarusian athletes who, after screening, are not identified as propagandistic mouthpieces or military personnel to compete under a neutral flag.
Belarus should be allowed to host international competitions again
And for Belarus there was another special treat from the IOC. While in Russia no international sports events are to be held, Belarus will in the future be allowed to invite the sporting world back to its country. While the IOC justified the admission of young athletes by saying that they should not be held responsible for the actions of their governments, there is no specific explanation for the special Belarus concession.
Perhaps the country will raise its hand when it comes to the re-tendering of the European Fencing Championships, which is supposed to take place next summer in Estonia. The homeland of the 2021 Olympic champion team in épée could have the hosting rights withdrawn again, because Estonia’s government refuses to issue visas to Belarusian fencers.
“The government position is clear: No visas will be issued to athletes from aggressor states,” says the Foreign Ministry. Allowing travel for all qualified athletes, however, is one of the prerequisites for awarding tournaments by the European Fencing Confederation.
Their international parent federation, the FIE, has meanwhile already implemented the new IOC recommendations and allowed junior fencers from Russia and Belarus to compete again. All national symbols are to be allowed. In Ukraine, people are appalled by this move.
Sabre fencer and two-time Olympic champion Olha Charlan, who is regarded as a national icon because of her two Olympic titles and her uncompromising stance toward Russia, wrote at the end of December on Instagram: „As an athlete from Ukraine, I cannot accept this. I represent a country that has endured 1,399 days of full-scale invasion and almost 12 years of war, killing, occupation, abductions and terror. All of that happens under the same flag and anthem.“
