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IOC chief Bach thanks int’l sports federations for allowing Russian athletes to compete

In March 2023, the IOC Executive Committee recommended that international sports federations allow Russian and Belarusian athletes only in a neutral status

MOSCOW, June 22. /TASS/. /TASS/. Numerous sports federations have backed up recommendations of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to allow participation of athletes from Russia and Belarus in international tournaments, IOC President Thomas Bach said on Thursday.

"We are encouraged by the many IFs that have organized international sport events and even world championships successfully applying our recommendations," IOC chief Bach told journalists on Thursday.

"For this, I would like to express all our thanks and appreciation to them," the IOC president added.

On February 28, 2022, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) 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.

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. 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.

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