World Athletics Rejects IOC Recommendation on Belarus

World Athletics has rejected the International Olympic Committee's (IOC) latest recommendation for the reintegration of Belarus with its national symbols, reaffirming its stance of a complete exclusion for the country.

The global governing body for athletics, led by Sebastian Coe, confirmed it would maintain the sanctions imposed in March 2022. These sanctions prohibit athletes, officials, and support staff from Belarus and Russia from participating in any World Athletics Series competition. This decision contradicts the IOC's position, which advocated for lifting restrictions on Belarus, arguing that the country is adhering to the Olympic Charter and has not attempted to annex territories beyond its recognized sporting jurisdiction.

Based on this assessment, the Lausanne-based IOC recommended Belarus's reintegration in time for the Los Angeles 2028 Summer Olympics. However, World Athletics, headquartered in Monaco, chose to diverge from the flexibility suggested by the IOC during its Executive Board meeting.

World Athletics clearly defined the condition for a potential return: its position will only be re-evaluated when there is "tangible progress" in peace negotiations in Ukraine. The war, which began in 2022 with initial Belarusian support for Russia, continues. In this scenario, Russia is not currently considered a potential beneficiary of a sanctions lift.

A federation spokesperson told the BBC: "We all hope that happens soon, but until then, the Council remains united in the position it took in March 2022 and which it reviewed in 2023 and 2025."

It's worth noting that the suspension of both countries reflects an accumulation of ethical, political, and sporting violations dating back to 2015. The situation escalated with Russia's invasion of Ukraine, in which Belarus was deemed a close ally of the Kremlin for serving as a base of operations and logistical support.

The Russian Olympic Committee remains suspended after absorbing sports organizations in occupied Ukrainian regions such as Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk, and Zaporizhzhia. Furthermore, Russia's history of ostracism predates the conflict, marked by the scandal of a state-sponsored doping system, revealed around the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics.

Despite this, the IOC, under the presidency of Kirsty Coventry, maintains that, from Minsk's side, "everything is in order" and compliant with the rules, unlike Russia. The explicit goal is to allow Belarus to participate in the qualification processes for LA28, which begin this summer.

Other international federations, such as World Aquatics, judo, and taekwondo, have already aligned with the IOC, permitting the return of Belarusian flags and anthems. In contrast, at the Paris 2024 and Milano Cortina 2026 Games, athletes from both nations could only compete as Neutral Individual Athletes, under very strict eligibility criteria.

The International Paralympic Committee (IPC), however, took a different path. In September 2025, the IPC General Assembly, meeting in South Korea, voted to lift the partial suspensions of the national Paralympic committees of Russia and Belarus, allowing both countries to compete under their national symbols at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Paralympic Games.