MOSCOW, February 25. /TASS/. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) will not make any big decisions before the organization elects a new president next month, a senior lawmaker from the Russian State Duma (the lower house of parliament) told TASS on Tuesday.
Swedish television channel SVT reported earlier that the IOC is calling on international sports federations to allow Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete internationally so that they have a chance to qualify for the 2026 Winter Olympic Games in Italy.
"The IOC will not make any sensational or abrupt moves now ahead of the organization’s presidential election, which will take place soon," Dmitry Svishchev, a deputy chair of the State Duma Committee on Physical Culture and Sports, said.
"They [IOC] issued recommendations to all international federations long ago to allow Russians to compete neutrally, so this is not breaking news," he continued. "At the same time some Scandinavian federations categorically refuse to follow these recommendations."
"This is why I would not overreact to any innuendos you hear in the media. The most important thing is to continue working, including with international organizations, to closely follow updates regarding the IOC leadership and be ready to return to the international arena," the lawmaker added.
Seven candidates will vie for the IOC presidency at the organization’s 144th session in Greece between March 18 and 21.
The candidates are Sebastian Coe (Great Britain), Juan Antonio Samaranch (Spain), Morinari Watanabe (Japan), Kirsty Coventry (Zimbabwe), David Lappartient (France), Johan Eliasch (Great Britain) and Prince Faisal bin Hussein (Jordan).
Current President of the International Olympic Committee Thomas Bach announced last August that he would not run for another presidential term in the world’s governing Olympic body.
IOC sanctions against Russia, Belarus
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.
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, 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.