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Russia’s Olympic team unlikely to appear under national flag at 2026 Olympics — minister

The 2026 Winter Olympic Games will be held in Italy, in the cities of Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo

MOSCOW, March 7. /TASS/. The Russian national team’s participation under the national flag is unlikely at the upcoming IOC (the International Olympic Committee) Winter Games in Italy next year, Russian Sports Minister Mikhail Degtyarev told TASS on Friday.

The 2026 Winter Olympic Games will be held in Italy, in the cities of Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo. The event will take place from February 6-22, 2026.

"We have a complicated situation regarding Milan and we have only one year left," Degtyarev noted. "Doors to qualifying tournaments open, leaving some of them ajar."

"Complications are significant at the moment regarding biathlon and luge," he continued. "Everything is possible regarding bobsleigh and skiing as we will have everyone who managed to break through."

"It is highly unlikely that we will be able to compete [at the 2026 Olympics] as a [Russian] national team. However, we are still hoping," he added.

IOC sanctions against Russia, Belarus

On February 28, 2022, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) issued guidelines to international sports federations to ban athletes from Russia and Belarus from competing in global tournaments, citing Moscow’s special military operation in Ukraine as the reason.

Following the IOC’s recommendations in late February 2022, the majority of international sports federations chose to exclude athletes from Russia and Belarus from all global sports competitions.

In late March 2023, the IOC suggested allowing individual athletes from Russia and Belarus to take part in international sports events, but only under certain conditions. Specifically, athletes from both countries must not be "actively supporting" Russia’s military campaign in Ukraine and must compete under a neutral flag. Russia and Belarus were also excluded from participating in international team competitions.

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.

Russian, Iranian national teams to play two friendly futsal matches in October — agency

Previously, the Iranian Football Federation announced plans for a friendly encounter with Russia on October 6

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