IOC backs Belarus’s return to international sport but withholds recommendation for Russia’s return over doping concerns, sources say

Source: The Guardian

The International Olympic Committee stopped short of recommending Russia’s full return to international sport over doping concerns — not the ongoing war with Ukraine, sources cited by The Guardian say.

On May 7, the IOC officially recommended that Belarusian athletes be allowed to compete in international competitions under their national flag. No such recommendation was issued for Russia.

The IOC’s press release gave no reasons, noting only that the organization retains “concerns” about Russia without elaborating.

Those concerns stem from a recent publication by The Insider, the independent Russian investigative outlet, that linked the director general of the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA), Veronika Loginova, to the state doping program that operated during the Sochi Games, according to sources who spoke to The Guardian.

Loginova’s partner, RUSADA forensic expert Dmitry Kovalev, is a colonel in the Second Service of Russia’s Federal Security Service, which was responsible for the doping program in Russian sport, the journalists reported. The Second Service also oversees internet blocking in Russia, and its officers have been implicated in the poisonings of Alexey Navalny and Vladimir Kara-Murza.

Russian and Belarusian athletes were barred from competing under their national flags following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The IOC’s recommendation to lift restrictions on Belarusian athletes does not mean automatic admission to competitions. Final decisions in each sport will be made by the relevant international federations.

At Meduza, we are committed to transparency about our use of artificial intelligence in the newsroom. The story you’re reading was written by one of our living, breathing journalists and translated from Russian using an AI model configured to follow our strict editorial standards. This translation process is the result of extensive testing and refinements to ensure our English-language coverage is timely and accurate. A Meduza editor reviews every draft before publication.

If you find any errors in this translation, please contact us at reports@meduza.io.

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IOC backs Belarus’s return to international sport but withholds recommendation for Russia’s return over doping concerns, sources say

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IOC backs Belarus’s return to international sport but withholds recommendation for Russia’s return over doping concerns, sources say

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