Olympic chiefs on Tuesday really useful the return to competitors of Russian and Belarusian athletes as particular person neutrals, however refused to offer a timeline on their potential participation at subsequent yr’s Paris Olympics. IOC president Thomas Bach mentioned the physique’s Executive Board had really useful to worldwide federations and worldwide sports activities occasion organisers that “athletes with a Russian or a Belarusian passport must compete only as Individual Neutral Athletes”.

German Sports Minister Nancy Faeser reacted instantly, calling the advice a “slap in the face” for Ukrainian athletes, who she mentioned “deserve the solidarity of international sport”.

“International sport must condemn Russia’s brutal war of aggression in no uncertain terms. This can only be done with the complete exclusion of Russian and Belarusian athletes.”

Poland’s Deputy Foreign Minister Piotr Wawrzyk mentioned it was a “day of shame for the IOC” after the “daily bombings of civilian sites”. But Moscow mentioned forcing Russians to compete below a impartial flag would quantity to “discrimination”.

“The announced criteria for the return to international competitions are unacceptable. This is discrimination on the basis of nationality,” Stanislav Pozdnyakov, the top of the Russian Olympic Committee, mentioned as quoted by Russian information companies.

Among different IOC suggestions — which Bach mentioned had been agreed unanimously, the IOC mentioned “teams of athletes with a Russian or Belarusian passport cannot be considered”.

Also lacking out will likely be “athletes who actively support the war” in addition to “athletes who are contracted to the Russian or Belarusian military or national security agencies”.

Bach reiterated that the sanctions in opposition to “those responsible for the war, the Russian and Belarusian states and governments”, should stay in place, having first been launched after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

That means Russia and Belarus are unable to organise worldwide sports activities occasions on their territory. Additionally, “no flag, anthem, colours or any other identifications whatsoever of these countries displayed at any sports event or meeting, including the entire venue” and “no Russian and Belarusian government or state official can be invited to or accredited for any international sports event or meeting”.

‘Appropriate time’

Bach, talking after the chief board assembly in Lausanne, mentioned a call on athletes from Russia and Belarus collaborating in Paris 2024 and the 2026 Winter Olympics, nevertheless, can be taken “at the appropriate time”.

“The IOC will take this decision at the appropriate time, at its full discretion, and without being bound by the results of previous Olympic qualification competitions,” Bach mentioned.

“We want to monitor the implementation of these recommendations as long as possible… to be enabled to take an informed decision.”

The board, he mentioned, “did not consider it appropriate to give a timeline… no one knows what’s happening tomorrow or in nine months”. Bach added the “participation of athletes with a Russian or Belarusian passport at the Olympic Games Paris 2024 was not considered either in the consultations or in its deliberations today”.

“The IOC expressly reserves the right to decide about their participation at the appropriate time, even if they would be considered to have qualified according to the qualification criteria set by their respective International Federations (IFs).

“The IOC will carefully monitor the complete implementation of those suggestions by all events involved.

“The results of this monitoring procedure will be an important factor in the decision by the IOC concerning the participation of athletes with a Russian or Belarusian passport in the Olympic Games Paris 2024 and the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026.”

More than 300 energetic and former fencers had earlier known as on Bach, who gained Olympic fencing crew gold in 1976, to uphold the ban on Russian and Belarusian athletes. The FIE, the world fencing physique, dominated this month to permit Russian and Belarusian fencers to return to worldwide competitors, turning into the primary Olympic sport to reopen its occasions to athletes from the 2 international locations.

In a hard-hitting letter, the fencers accused Bach and the interim president of their federation, Emmanuel Katsiadakis, of prioritising Russians forward of Ukrainians and dismissed the notion of neutrality, saying “athletes were and will be instrumentalised for Putin’s propaganda”.