MOSCOW, January 31. /TASS/. The Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) and the country’s Sports Ministry must make a final decision regarding the country’s athletes' participation at the upcoming Olympic Games amid today’s discriminatory environment, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday.

"I am well aware of everything connected with the participation or non-participation, as well as discrimination against our athletes at high-level sports on the international stage," the Russian president said. "I think that we should not speculate about it anymore."

"It must be left to our [Russian] Olympic Committee and the Sports Ministry to make a final decision regarding what to do and what not to do regarding this issue," Putin added.

The French capital of Paris is scheduled to host the 2024 Summer Olympic Games between July 26 and August 11, 2024.

IOC sanctions against Russia, Belarus

On February 28, 2022, the International Olympic Committee issued recommendations to international sports federations to bar athletes from Russia and Belarus from taking part in international tournaments, citing Moscow’s special military operation in Ukraine as the reason.

Following the IOC’s recommendations in late February 2022, the majority of global sports federations decided to bar athletes from Russia and Belarus from all international sports tournaments.

In late March, 2023, the IOC recommended to permit individual athletes from Russia and Belarus to take part in international sports tournaments, but only under certain conditions. Specifically, athletes from the two countries should not be "actively supporting" Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine and must compete under a neutral status. Russia and Belarus were also banned from participating in international team events.

On July 26, 2023, the IOC extended invitations to the 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris to 203 National Olympic Committees. Russia and Belarus did not receive invitations. The IOC explained later that there was no deadline regarding the issue of Russian and Belarusian athletes’ participation.

On October 12, 2023, the International Olympic Committee suspended the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) until further notice after the Russian organization included the Olympic councils of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics (DPR and LPR), the Zaporozhye and Kherson Regions as its members.