Plan for Russia to rejoin Olympics sparks disgust in Ukraine

Ukraine’s government has hit out at remarks by the incoming president of the International Olympic Committee opening the door to Russia’s returning to the Games.

Russian athletes have been banned from competing in the Olympics under their own flag since Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, which the IOC deemed a violation of its rules. 

But incoming IOC President Kirsty Coventry, who takes over from Thomas Bach in June, said in March that she was opposed to banning any countries from competing in the Games and would look to start a “discussion” on allowing Russia back into the Olympic fold by 2026.

That has triggered a withering response from Kyiv, which wants Russia banished from the Olympics and other international sporting events as Moscow’s destructive invasion drags on.

“We will call on the international community to reject any attempts to normalize the presence of Russian and Belarusian citizens in sports as long as the war against Ukraine continues,” Yuri Muzyka, Ukraine’s deputy sports minister, told POLITICO.

“In the Russian Federation, sport is part of state policy, it has no autonomy, and athletes and officials are part of the state propaganda machine,” he said, adding that Kyiv remained “steadfast” in its support for a ban.

Under the current rules, Russian athletes are allowed to compete in the Olympics only under a neutral banner. Some international sporting federations, such as ice hockey and track and field, do not allow Russians to participate in tournaments and qualifying rounds at all, meaning they cannot qualify for the Games.

Those who “actively support” Russia’s war, or who work for its military, cannot participate in the Olympics (though in practice this ban has not always been enforced). Just 15 Russians competed in the Summer Olympics in Paris last year, compared with more than 300 in Tokyo in 2021.

Moscow has called the restrictions unjust and discriminatory. Coventry said it was inconsistent to ban some countries in conflict and not others, and said it was important that “all athletes” are “represented” at the Olympics.

But supporters of the ban argue that Russia seeks to use the return of its athletes to major competitions as a soft-power tactic to break its diplomatic isolation and restore its global image.

Russia “politicizes sports, despises Olympic values and the principles of ‘Fair Play,’ and uses sport to justify its brutal war against Ukraine,” Muzyka said.

The Kremlin reacted jubilantly to the news of Zimbabwean former swimmer Coventry’s election last month, with Russian Olympic Committee President and Sports Minister Mikhail Degtyarev congratulating her in a post on Telegram.

Under the current rules, Russian athletes are allowed to compete in the Olympics only under a neutral banner. | Kirill Kudryavtsev/AFP via Getty Images

“We expect that in the era of the new leader, the Olympic movement will become stronger … and Russia will return to the Olympic podium,” he said.

As U.S. President Donald Trump attempts to broker a speedy end to the Ukraine war, the Kremlin seeks a reprieve from its global ostracism, including the easing of Western sanctions and the reconnection of its financial institutions to SWIFT, the worldwide banking network. 

The next Summer Olympic Games will be held in Los Angeles in 2028, while the next Winter Olympics will take place in February 2026 in Milan, Cortina d’Ampezzo and at sites across Lombardy and northeast Italy. 

The IOC did not immediately respond to POLITICO’s request for comment about the Ukrainian criticism.