MOSCOW, September 6. /TASS/. Over 100 Russian athletes have decided to change their sports citizenship by joining foreign national teams, Russian Deputy Sports Minister Alexey Morozov said on Wednesday.

"As many as 55 Olympians have changed their sports citizenship and this figure exceeds 100 if we include non-Olympic sports," Morozov said speaking at the Russian Sports Ministry’s Board meeting in Moscow.

"There are precedents for reimbursing funds allocated for training," he said. "Some countries are in the wrong when it comes to the sports citizenship change," Morozov 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. Russia and Belarus were also banned from participating in international team events.