MOSCOW, February 10. /TASS/. The international kickboxing promotion Glory has removed all sanctions previously placed on Russian fighters regarding their participation in global tournaments, the organization said in a statement on Monday.
"The sanctions regarding Russian fighters have been lifted. They now have the right to compete in Glory tournaments," the statement reads.
London-based Glory international kickboxing promotion (formerly known as Glory World Series) was founded in 2012 and is currently one of the leading global kickboxing organizations. It terminated contracts with Russian kickboxers in 2022 due to the developments in Ukraine and following subsequent recommendations from the International Olympic Committee.
IOC sanctions against Russia, Belarus
On February 28, 2022, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) issued recommendations to international sports federations to prohibit athletes from Russia and Belarus from participating 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 allowing individual athletes from Russia and Belarus to participate in international sports tournaments, but only under specific 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, 2023, 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.