MOSCOW, July 7. /TASS/. The International Biathlon Union’s (IBU) stance regarding the suspension of Russian athletes remains unchanged despite updated recommendations issued by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), IBU President Olle Dahlin announced to TASS in a statement on Tuesday.
The IOC announced its decision earlier in the day to provisionally lift an earlier-imposed suspension of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) and also recommended lifting restrictions on the participation of Russian athletes in all international tournaments.
"The IBU has taken note of the IOC’s decision regarding its recommendations to IFs [International Federations] on Russian athletes’ participation in international competitions. As the IOC reiterated, decisions on participation fall within the autonomy of each IF," the statement reads quoting Dahlin as saying. "The IBU’s position is unchanged, and the IBU Congress decision of 2022 remains in place."
"The IBU Executive Board set up a monitoring group which will continue to regularly evaluate the situation and provide regular reports to the Executive Board," the statement added.
IOC previously-imposed sanctions against Russia, Belarus
On February 28, 2022, the 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 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.