MOSCOW, April 21. /TASS/. The world’s governing archery body, World Archery (WA), has cleared Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete in international tournaments, the federation’s press office announced in a statement to TASS on Friday.

"The [Executive] Board expressed its support and agreed to explore a timeline for the return of these athletes under strict conditions of eligibility, permitting only the reintegration of individuals able to prove neutrality through an independent review process," according to the press office of the WA.

"Further information on this procedure will be provided to delegates at the next World Archery Congress," the source added.

In early March 2022, the WA Executive Board ruled to bar Russian and Belarusian athletes from all international events until further notice. The international federation also prohibited Russia and Belarus from either hosting or bidding for international archery competitions.

At its session on January 25, 2023, the IOC Executive Board put forward a proposal to permit individual athletes from Russia and Belarus to take part in international sports tournaments but only under certain conditions.

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.

Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) President Stanislav Pozdnyakov called these recommendations absolutely unacceptable as they would lead to a split in Russian sports. Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov slammed the IOC’s recommendations as discriminatory.

After Tokyo was home to the Olympic flame at the 2020 Summer Games, it will travel to Paris for the Summer Games in 2024, and then to Los Angeles in 2028. In 2021, at the 138th IOC (the International Olympic Committee) session in Tokyo, Australia’s Brisbane was selected to host the 2032 Summer Olympic Games.