Russian sports minister calls for the full return of Russian athletes and tells the IOC: "It is time to end this"
Russian Sports Minister and President of the Russian Olympic Committee Mikhail Degtyarev has again called on the International Olympic Committee to lift the restrictions imposed on Russian athletes and allow their full return to international competitions. Speaking on 5 June 2026 at a panel on the future of the Olympic movement as part of the St Petersburg International Economic Forum, Degtyarev claimed that sanctions in sport harm not only Russia but also global sporting competition. According to a report by the Russian agency TASS, he said that "sport often becomes an element of sanctions" and that such an approach, in his view, is unacceptable. In the same appearance, he said that Russia's return would benefit the entire sporting world and added: "It is time to end this."
Degtyarev's message comes at a moment when the relationship between Russia and the International Olympic Committee is in a sensitive phase. After Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the IOC recommended broad restrictions for Russian and Belarusian athletes, and later allowed only a limited appearance by individuals under neutral status. Russia, on the other hand, has in recent months been increasingly openly demanding a return under its national flag and anthem, with Degtyarev trying to present Moscow as a side conducting a "systematic" dialogue with the Olympic leadership. His appearance in St Petersburg was therefore not only a sporting statement, but also part of a broader Russian diplomatic campaign for reintegration into international sport.
Message from St Petersburg and pressure on the new IOC leadership
The St Petersburg International Economic Forum was held from 3 to 6 June 2026, and the official organizers stated that this year's main theme was "Pragmatic Dialogue: The Path Towards a Stable Future". The forum, organized by the Roscongress Foundation, has for years served as one of Russia's most important platforms for political, economic and diplomatic messages to foreign audiences. In that environment, Degtyarev spoke on a panel titled "The Future of the Olympic Movement: Challenges and Prospects", placing the sporting issue in the broader context of international relations. According to TASS, he stressed that Russia continues to cooperate with the IOC and wants the removal of restrictions that, according to the Russian interpretation, have grown into political discrimination.
In his appearance, Degtyarev linked sporting sanctions to the quality of international competition. His thesis is that, without Russian athletes, the strength of major competitions is reduced, especially in disciplines in which Russia traditionally had a strong position. Such an interpretation is not new in Russian sporting circles, but it has now been presented at a time when the IOC is headed by Kirsty Coventry, the former Zimbabwean swimmer and two-time Olympic champion. According to official IOC data, Coventry was elected the tenth president of that organization at the 144th IOC Session in March 2025, and has held the office since 2025. Russia clearly sees her leadership as an opportunity to reopen the issue of the status of its athletes.
The specialist portal Inside the Games reported that Degtyarev praised Kirsty Coventry's plans for the Olympic movement at the forum and advocated governance reforms in international sport. Such wording fits into the Russian strategy of reducing open conflict with the IOC and emphasizing dialogue, which is also visible in Degtyarev's earlier statements. Still, that does not mean that the fundamental dispute has been resolved. The IOC continues to distinguish between the individual participation of athletes under neutral conditions and the full return of Russian national teams, the flag, the anthem and the national Olympic committee to the system of Olympic competitions.
What the IOC rules now allow
According to official IOC announcements, Russian and Belarusian athletes at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games were able to compete only as Individual Neutral Athletes, and only if they met sporting qualification criteria and additional neutrality conditions. Those conditions included a ban on teams competing, the exclusion of national symbols, the absence of the state flag and anthem, and checks that the athletes had not actively supported the war in Ukraine and were not connected to military or security structures. The IOC also announced that a special panel had been established for Paris 2024 to verify the eligibility of neutral athletes and their accompanying staff. According to available IOC data and reports by international media, the Russian presence in Paris was numerically significantly smaller than at previous Games.
For the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games, the IOC announced in September 2025 that conditions comparable to those that applied for Paris 2024 would be applied to Individual Neutral Athletes. This meant that Russian and Belarusian athletes could come only if they qualified through the existing systems of international federations and passed a neutrality check, while national teams remained outside the Olympic programme. Such a model did not satisfy the Russian sporting authorities, which are demanding a full return to the system under their own state and Olympic symbols. Degtyarev's statement in St Petersburg is therefore directly aimed at changing precisely that framework.
In October 2023, the IOC Executive Board suspended the Russian Olympic Committee with immediate effect. According to the IOC's explanation, the reason was the decision of the Russian Olympic Committee to include in its membership sports organizations from Ukrainian regions under Russian occupation, which the IOC assessed as a violation of the Olympic Charter and the territorial jurisdiction of the Ukrainian Olympic Committee. That suspension is a separate issue from the individual participation of athletes, but in practice remains one of the main obstacles to Russia's full return to the Olympic system. The Russian side claims that the legal obstacles have been removed, but by 7 June 2026 the IOC had not confirmed this as a basis for lifting all restrictions.
The Belarusian case shows change, but not for Russia
Additional complexity is introduced by the IOC's decision from May 2026, in which the organization announced that it no longer recommends restrictions on the participation of Belarusian athletes in competitions under the authority of international federations and sports event organizers. According to the official IOC announcement, this change applies to Belarusian athletes, including teams, but does not automatically extend to Russia. This created different treatment of two countries that since 2022 had mostly been covered by the same package of sporting restrictions. For Moscow, precisely that difference has become an argument for reopening the question of Russia's status.
According to Guardian reports, in May 2026 the IOC simultaneously expressed concern regarding Russia because of new allegations connected with the Russian anti-doping system. At the centre of those allegations was Veronika Loginova, the director general of the Russian Anti-Doping Agency RUSADA, about whom international media and the investigative portal The Insider published claims connected with doping cases from the period of the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games. According to the Guardian, WADA stated that it had taken the allegations seriously and referred them to its independent Intelligence and Investigations Department. Loginova rejected the accusations, and at present it has not been officially confirmed that the allegations have been proven.
This issue is especially sensitive because Russian sport is facing not only the consequences of the war in Ukraine but also a long-standing doping legacy. In its own announcements, WADA recalled that RUSADA was declared non-compliant with the World Anti-Doping Code back in 2015 after the discovery of widespread institutionalized doping in Russian sport. WADA also announced that the Operation LIMS investigation, connected with data from the Moscow laboratory, had led to more than 300 sanctions by 2026. Against such a background, the question of Russia's return is not only political and diplomatic, but also regulatory, because international organizations insist on trust in clean competition and the independence of the anti-doping system.
World federations still have a key role
Although the IOC sets the framework for the Olympic Games, individual international federations have an important role in qualifications, calendars and the status of athletes in their competitions. It is precisely that level of rules that is often decisive for the actual return of Russian athletes. Some federations have recently allowed neutral athletes to compete, while others have continued with a more restrictive approach. According to the Guardian, World Athletics said in May 2026 that it would not readmit Russia and Belarus until there is tangible progress in peace negotiations connected with the war in Ukraine.
Such an approach shows that even a possible change of tone at the IOC would not automatically mean a unified and swift return in all sports. Russian athletes depend on the rules of each federation, on qualification procedures and on assessments of neutrality. In some disciplines, missed seasons, a lack of international points and closed qualification windows further complicate the return even for those who could formally compete. That is why Degtyarev's claim that Russia's return would strengthen global competition carries political weight, but does not solve the technical and legal obstacles that exist in the international sports system.
For the IOC, the issue is also one of the credibility of its own principles. The organization must balance the position that athletes should not be punished solely because of their passport with the fact that Olympic symbols must not be used for the political legitimization of aggression, occupation or state propaganda. In practice, that balance has created the model of Individual Neutral Athletes, but it has satisfied neither Ukraine and its allies, nor Russia, which is demanding a full return. Degtyarev's message that "it is time to end this" therefore reflects Russian pressure to change the system, but not a consensus within international sport.
Coventry between continuity and expectations of change
Kirsty Coventry's arrival at the head of the IOC changed the political dynamics of the debate, although not necessarily the organization's policy itself. According to official IOC data, Coventry is the first woman and the first person from Africa to head that organization, and before the presidency she had a long-standing role in Olympic bodies, including the Athletes' Commission and the Executive Board. Russian authorities are trying to present her mandate as an opportunity for a "new beginning", but the IOC's decisions during 2025 and 2026 show that changes, if they happen, remain cautious and conditional. Particularly important is the message that the return of athletes must be connected with a fair and clean field of play.
According to the Guardian, in the context of the new anti-doping allegations, Coventry emphasized the importance of the cleanest and fairest possible field of play for athletes returning to competitions. That message indicates that the IOC does not want a quick political deal without regulatory guarantees. The Russian side, by contrast, claims that the continuation of the suspension is unjustified and that decisions are being unnecessarily delayed. Between those two positions lies the space in which it will be decided whether Russian sport can gradually return through neutral individuals or whether a path will open toward the full status of national teams.
Degtyarev is also a specific actor because he simultaneously leads the Ministry of Sport of the Russian Federation and the Russian Olympic Committee. According to the official biography of the Russian government, he was appointed sports minister in May 2024, and according to reports by the Russian Olympic Committee and TASS, he was elected president of the ROC in December 2024. This dual function gives him a strong political mandate in Russia, but in international sport it also raises the question of the autonomy of the national Olympic committee from state authority. The autonomy of sports organizations is precisely one of the principles to which the IOC often refers when deciding on the status of national Olympic committees.
What a full return would mean for the Olympic movement
A full return of Russia would mean much more than permission for individual athletes to appear at a competition. It would include the return of national symbols, the possibility of teams competing, the normalization of the status of the Russian Olympic Committee and a broader renewal of relations with international federations. For Russian athletes, this would mean a more predictable qualification path, more international appearances and a return to the ranking system in sports in which they had been limited or excluded for years. For opponents of such a move, especially Ukraine, it would raise the question of whether sport can be normalized while the war continues and while occupied Ukrainian territories appear in Russian sporting structures.
According to currently available information, by 7 June 2026 the IOC had not announced a decision that would mean Russia's full return to the Olympic system. There are partial changes, especially in relation to Belarus and certain age categories, but Russia's status remains restricted and burdened by political, legal and anti-doping issues. Degtyarev's appearance in St Petersburg should therefore be read as a continuation of pressure, and not as an announcement of an already agreed change. In that sense, the question of Russia's return remains one of the most sensitive issues facing the new leadership of the International Olympic Committee.
Sources:
- TASS - report on Mikhail Degtyarev's statement at a panel as part of SPIEF 2026 and his call for Russia's return to international sport (link)
- Inside the Games - report on Degtyarev's appearance, his view of the Olympic movement and praise for Kirsty Coventry's plans (link)
- International Olympic Committee - official announcement on the conditions for Individual Neutral Athletes to compete at the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games (link)
- International Olympic Committee - official announcement on lifting recommended restrictions for Belarusian athletes (link)
- International Olympic Committee - official announcement on the suspension of the Russian Olympic Committee from October 2023 (link)
- International Olympic Committee - official profile of Kirsty Coventry and data on her election as IOC president (link)
- WADA - official announcement on the Operation LIMS investigation and sanctions connected with Russian doping cases (link)
- The Guardian - report on new allegations connected with RUSADA, WADA's reaction and the IOC's position on Russia's return (link)
- Roscongress / SPIEF - official information on the date and context of the St Petersburg International Economic Forum 2026 (link)
- Government of the Russian Federation - official biography of Mikhail Degtyarev and information on his appointment as sports minister (link)