International Olympic Committee calls for sports to ban Russian and Belarusian athletes from international events
The International Olympic Committee has recommended that all Russians and Belarusian athletes should be blocked from competing for their countries, following the invasion of Ukraine. It puts pressure on the International Paralympic Committee ahead of the start of the Beijing Winter Games on Friday, though the IOC has noted in its statement that it might be too short notice to do anything about it — advising it to “find its own way to effectively address the dilemma.” Ad/> The move means that FIFA, which works alongside the IOC, will be encouraged to kick Russia out of World Cup qualifying, with opponents Poland already refusing to play the fixture, and for UEFA to remove Russia from Women’s Euro 2022 in England.
