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African countries offer to lift sanctions against Russian athletes — IOC chief Bach

The IOC was asked that Russians and Belarusians be given the opportunity to compete under national flags, with anthems and other symbols of national identity

MOSCOW, October 13. /TASS/. Representatives of African countries have asked to consider lifting sanctions against Russian and Belarusian athletes, International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach said at a press conference.

"Even from the African continent, in particular, the request to consider to lift the restrictions in the very strong conditions we [the IOC] have put on individual neutral athletes with the Russian and Belarusian passports and to give them access to a flag, national colors and theme and all the national insignia," the IOC chief said.

IOC sanctions against Russia

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 October 12, the IOC 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.