MILAN (BN24) — Russian and Belarusian athletes will be allowed to compete at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan-Cortina, but only under a neutral banner and following strict vetting requirements, the International Olympic Committee announced Friday.
The IOC said the conditions mirror those imposed during the Paris 2024 Summer Games, when Russian and Belarusian competitors could only participate as Independent Neutral Athletes (AINs) after proving they had no ties to the military and did not publicly support Russia’s war in Ukraine. The sanctions will remain unchanged for the upcoming Winter Games, scheduled to begin February 6, 2026, in Italy.
“The Executive Board will take the exact same approach that was done in Paris. Nothing has changed,” IOC President Kirsty Coventry said at a press conference following a meeting in Milan.
The announcement comes as Russia remains suspended from the IOC, a penalty handed down in October 2023 after the Russian Olympic Committee recognized regional councils from occupied Ukrainian territories — including Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhia — in violation of the Olympic Charter.
Athletes who qualify for Milano-Cortina will be required to undergo strict checks to ensure they have no links to Russia’s armed forces or public support for the invasion of Ukraine. Any competitor found connected to either will be barred.
The IOC emphasized that only individual athletes may compete as neutrals. Russian and Belarusian teams will remain banned, reflecting sanctions placed on Belarus for its role as a staging ground in Moscow’s 2022 invasion.
The policy is designed to maintain Olympic participation while preventing widespread boycotts. The IOC has pointed to the limited neutral participation at the Paris Games as a success, helping to avert walkouts by Ukraine and its allies.
Already, four Russian figure skaters — two men and two women — have been cleared by the International Skating Union to attempt qualification as neutral athletes for the 2026 Games. They would compete without national symbols, anthems, or flags, as was the case in Paris.
“The size of the neutral delegation will depend on each international federation’s rules and decisions,” Coventry said, noting that some governing bodies still prohibit Russian and Belarusian athletes from their competitions altogether.
The decision was widely expected, but remains a contentious issue as the war in Ukraine enters its fourth year.
