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Reinstatement of Russia’s rights at int’l sports competitions is great achievement

The Russian Sports Ministry has an entire team of negotiators working with the IOC, Dmitry Peskov added

MOSCOW, July 8. /TASS/. A decision made by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to return Russia its legitimate rights for the participation in international sports tournaments is a great achievement, Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday.

"These are undoubtedly great achievements. They [the Russian Sports Ministry] have an entire team of negotiators working with the IOC. It's a very difficult, tense work. We see the results, the results regarding certain international federations. A lot of people take part in this work," Peskov said at a news briefing.

The International Olympic Committee announced a decision on July 7 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.

IOC previously-imposed 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.