MOSCOW, April 27. /TASS/. The International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) has cleared Russian junior table tennis players to compete under the country’s flag and to the tune of the national anthem following instructions issued to international sports federations earlier in the year, Oleg Zavalyuyev, the president of the Russian Table Tennis Federation (RTTF) told TASS on Monday.

"Youth players have already been cleared to play under national symbols [at ITTF tournaments] and we also do see an improved attitude regarding the rest of Russia's athletes," Zavalyuyev said in an interview with TASS.

"This is why we continue working with athletes to hone their skills as we keep developing sports on the country’s territory in order to be ready for any possible scenarios," he said.

"We hope that the team’s senior squad will be able to receive this privilege as well [to participate under national flag]," Zavalyuyev added.

In December 2025, the IOC Executive Committee issued recommendations that allowed athletes in international federations from Russia and Belarus to participate in youth disciplines under the national flags and anthems. This recommendation applied to both individual and team sports. Numerous international sports federations followed the proposal.

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.