IOC Backs Return Of Russian Athletes As Individuals, No Timeline For Paris Olympics

Olympic chiefs on Tuesday recommended the return to competition of Russian and Belarusian athletes as individual neutrals, but refused to give a timeline on their potential participation at next year's Paris Olympics. IOC president Thomas Bach said the body's Executive Board had recommended to international federations and international sports event organisers that "athletes with a Russian or a Belarusian passport must compete only as Individual Neutral Athletes".

German Sports Minister Nancy Faeser reacted immediately, calling the recommendation a "slap in the face" for Ukrainian athletes, who she said "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 said it was a "day of shame for the IOC" after the "daily bombings of civilian sites". But Moscow said forcing Russians to compete under a neutral flag would amount to "discrimination".

"The announced criteria for the return to international competitions are unacceptable. This is discrimination on the basis of nationality," Stanislav Pozdnyakov, the head of the Russian Olympic Committee, said as quoted by Russian news agencies.

Among other IOC recommendations -- which Bach said were agreed unanimously, the IOC said "teams of athletes with a Russian or Belarusian passport cannot be considered".

Also missing out will be "athletes who actively support the war" as well as "athletes who are contracted to the Russian or Belarusian military or national security agencies".

Bach reiterated that the sanctions against "those responsible for the war, the Russian