IOC responds to Russian reports about Olympic ban being lifted ahead of 2026 Winter Games in Milan
Russian teams and athletes, including NHL stars like Alex Ovechkin, are still banned from the Olympics as a result of sanctions over Vladimir Putin 's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, the International Olympic Committee clarified on Tuesday.
The IOC was responding to reports out of Russia that hockey officials from the country had held talks with the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) over Olympic participation.
The organization responded Tuesday, seemingly eliminating any hope of Russian hockey stars competing at the 2026 Winter Games in Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy.
'The IOC Executive Board recommendation from March 2023 with regard to teams of athletes with a Russian passport remains in place,' the IOC said. 'It is based on the fact that, by definition, a group of Individual Neutral Athletes cannot be considered a team. We take note that the IIHF has confirmed that it will follow this recommendation.'
A small number of individual Russian and Belarusian athletes were allowed to take part in the Paris 2024 summer Olympics after rigorous vetting by the IOC. They competed without the Russian or Belarusian flag and anthem. Instead they took part as neutral athletes because all Russian teams were banned. Belarus has acted as a staging ground for the invasion.
Four Russian figure skaters in men's and women's singles were recently approved by the International Skating Union to try to qualify for the 2026 Winter Olympics as neutral athletes.
Russian hockey players won gold at the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics and silver four years later in Beijing.
Ovechkin, the Russian-born Washington Capitals star and NHL's all-time leader in goals, had expressed a desire to play in a fourth Olympics next year at age 40. He previously played for Russia in 2006, 2010 and 2014.
Ovechkin, a supporter of Putin, broke Wayne Gretzky's league record of 894 goals this season, but was barred with his countrymen from playing in the inaugural Four Nations mid-season tournament because Russia wasn't given a team. Instead Canada finished atop a tournament field that included the United States, Sweden and Finland.
The IOC suspended the Russian Olympic Committee in October 2023 for recognizing regional Olympic councils for Russian-occupied regions of Ukraine - Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia.
'This [October 2023] recommendation was made after consultations with the International Federations concerned and the other Olympic Movement stakeholders,' the IOC said.
'This position reflects the suspension of the Russian Olympic Committee because of its annexation of regional sports organizations on the territory of the National Olympic Committee of Ukraine.'
'Such action constitutes a breach of the Olympic Charter because it violates the territorial integrity of the NOC of Ukraine, as recognized by the IOC in accordance with the Olympic Charter,' the Olympic body said.
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