MOSCOW: The world’s governing track and field body, World Athletics, has no intention of allowing athletes from Russia and Belarus to participate in international events following the recent recommendations from the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the World Athletics’ press office announced to TASS on Wednesday.
“There is no change to World Athletics’ position, as outlined after our Council meeting last week. As the IOC said yesterday, it is the responsibility of the respective International Federations to decide on this for their own sports,“ the statement from World Athletics reads.
The IOC recommended on Tuesday that international federations allow Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete under a neutral status, while they would not be able to take part in team events. Another condition is that the athletes should not be supporters of the special military operation or be affiliated with the armed forces or national security agencies.
President of the Russian Olympic Committee Stanislav Pozdnyakov (pix) called these recommendations absolutely unacceptable as they would lead to a split in Russian sports.
On February 28, 2022, the IOC issued recommendations to international sports federations to bar athletes from Russia and Belarus from taking part in international tournaments, citing Moscow’s special military operation in Ukraine as the reason.
On January 25, the IOC put forward a proposal to permit individual athletes from Russia to take part in international tournaments as neutrals, provided they did not actively support Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine. -Bernama
