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IOC greenlights young athletes from Russia to participate under national flag

"The definition of youth competitions and the application of these recommendations depends for this purpose on the regulations of each International Federation," according to the IOC

© David Ramos/Getty Images

GENEVA, December 11. /TASS/. The Executive Board (EB) of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) issued recommendations ordering international sports federations to allow young athletes from Russia and Belarus to participate in youth competitions under their national flag and to the tune of their country’s anthem, the IOC press office said in a statement.

"In light of the discussion around the principles, the Summit supported the IOC EB’s recommendation that youth athletes with a Russian or Belarusian passport should no longer be restricted in their access to international youth competitions, in both individual and team sports," the statement reads.

"The definition of youth competitions and the application of these recommendations depends for this purpose on the regulations of each International Federation (IF)," according to the IOC.

However, the governing Olympic body added that: "The Summit participants committed to take these discussions back to their organizations for their consideration. It was recognized that implementation by the stakeholders will take time."

"In addition, the standard protocols of the IF or the International Sports Event Organizer regarding flags, anthems, uniforms and other elements should apply, provided that the national sports organization concerned is in good standing," the statement continued.

"The above principles should apply to the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games, and are recommended for adoption by all IFs and International Sports Event Organizers for their own·youth·events," according to the IOC.

On December 10, the IOC Executive meeting participants avoided discussions regarding the reinstatement of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC).

he IOC Executive Board held its final meeting of 2025 on December 9-10 at Olympic House in Lausanne, Switzerland. Russian Sports Minister and President of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) Mikhail Degtyarev earlier told TASS that he did not expect the reinstatement of the ROC’s status.

IOC’s suspension of Russian Olympic Committee

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.

In March 2025, Degtyarev announced that the ROC had introduced amendments to the organization’s charter in line with the Olympic Charter. He added that time that the new version of the charter was submitted with the IOC.

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