Summer Olympics Bans Two Countries From The Opening Ceremony
TOKYO, JAPAN - JULY 03: A general view of the new National Stadium prior to a media tour of Tokyo 2020 Olympic venues on July 03, 2019 in Tokyo, Japan. (Photo by Matt Roberts/Getty Images)
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has barred Russian and Belarusian athletes from participating in the opening ceremony at this year's Summer Olympics.
Per an Associated Press report, the IOC said Tuesday that athletes from Russia and Belarus can only "experience the event" as spectators in Paris. They are eligible to compete in the Olympics under a neutral status, meaning they won't wear any flags or emblems. That nation's anthem won't play if any athletes earn a medal.
In order to compete in the Paris Games, Russian and Belarusian athletes must clear an IOC vetting process to ensure they have not supported the invasion of Ukraine and are unaffiliated with the military. The IOC expects 36 athletes with Russian passports and 22 athletes with Belarus passports to qualify for the Olympics.
Russia was also banned from the 2021 Tokyo Olympics because of doping sanctions, but 335 athletes won 71 medals for the Russian Olympic Committee.
Russia is planning to host "Friendship Games" for the first time in 40 years this September. The IOC called the planned events a violation of the Olympic charter
"To make their purely political motivation even more obvious, they are deliberately circumventing the sports organisations in their target countries," an IOC statement said. "It is a cynical attempt by the Russian Federation to politicise sport."
