Russian Minister of Sport invokes Putin's orders and demands Russia's full return to world sport
Russian Minister of Sport and President of the Russian Olympic Committee Mikhail Degtyarev has again stated that, according to Moscow's position, world sport cannot be complete without the participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes. In a statement reported by Russian state media, Degtyarev linked his actions to the orders of President Vladimir Putin and welcomed the decisions of certain international federations that are gradually restoring national symbols to Russian and Belarusian athletes, including flags, anthems and state insignia.
His message comes at a time when the international sports system is still trying to adapt to the consequences of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which began in February 2022. After the start of the war, the International Olympic Committee and a number of sports federations introduced restrictions on Russian and Belarusian athletes, with Belarus included in the measures because of its role in enabling the Russian attack. Although channels have since opened for the return of certain athletes, especially under neutral status, the question of Russia's full return remains one of the most sensitive issues in international sport.
According to available information, Degtyarev is trying to present the latest decisions of certain sports bodies as confirmation of the Russian position that sanctions should be lifted and that sport must be separated from political conflicts. However, the official position of the International Olympic Committee still does not mean Russia's return in full national capacity. The Russian Olympic Committee remains suspended, and Russian athletes at Olympic level may compete only if they pass strict checks and if they are granted the status of individual neutral athletes.
Moscow presents the athletes' return as a state priority
Degtyarev, who simultaneously holds the office of Minister of Sport of the Russian Federation and President of the Russian Olympic Committee, describes the return of Russian athletes to international competitions as one of the key goals of state sports policy. In the Russian political context, such statements have broader meaning because sport in Russia has traditionally been not only a competitive field, but also an important element of state prestige, foreign-policy symbolism and internal mobilisation.
The reference to Putin's orders further shows that the issue of international sporting status is viewed in Moscow as a political task, not merely as an administrative procedure before international federations. At the same time, Degtyarev seeks to emphasise that Russia does not want to be satisfied with a limited model of return through neutral status, but is demanding the full restoration of rights, including appearances under the state flag and with the anthem being played. Such a goal directly clashes with the existing Olympic rules for Russian athletes, which were introduced after the start of the war in Ukraine and further tightened after decisions by the Russian Olympic Committee on the inclusion of sports organisations from areas of Ukrainian regions that Russia declared annexed.
The International Olympic Committee suspended the Russian Olympic Committee on 12 October 2023. According to the IOC's official explanation, the reason was the unilateral decision of the Russian Olympic Committee to include in its membership regional sports organisations from Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, areas that are under the jurisdiction of the National Olympic Committee of Ukraine. The IOC assessed that decision as a violation of the Olympic Charter because it undermines the territorial integrity of the Ukrainian Olympic committee. The suspension means that the Russian Olympic Committee cannot function as a national Olympic committee in the full sense and cannot receive funds from the Olympic movement.
The difference between Russian and Belarusian status is increasingly pronounced
The most important development in recent months concerns Belarus. In May 2026, the Executive Board of the International Olympic Committee no longer recommends restrictions on the participation of Belarusian athletes in competitions of international federations and sports-event organisers. According to the IOC announcement, this recommendation applies to Belarusian athletes, including teams, and the decision was explained by saying that athletes should not be restricted because of the actions of their governments if they meet sporting and other conditions.
Nevertheless, the IOC also stressed that Russia's status differs from that of Belarus. The Belarusian National Olympic Committee, according to the IOC's interpretation, remains in good standing and is compliant with the Olympic Charter. The Russian Olympic Committee, on the other hand, remains suspended while the IOC legal commission considers its case. The IOC Executive Board also stated that it wants to better understand the latest information because of which the World Anti-Doping Agency is considering the state of the Russian anti-doping system.
For Moscow, that difference represents a political and sporting problem. While space is opening for Belarusian athletes to return more broadly to international competitions with national insignia, Russia continues to face a special regime of checks, a ban on state symbols at Olympic level and the unresolved issue of the status of its national Olympic committee. Degtyarev therefore presents every decision by international federations that allows Russian symbols as a step towards normalisation, but the IOC's legal framework still limits the reach of such individual decisions.
The Olympic model still provides for neutral athletes
For the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games, the International Olympic Committee decided to apply the same model that was in force for the Paris 2024 Games. This means that athletes with Russian or Belarusian passports may compete as individual neutral athletes only if they secure a place through the qualification system and pass an additional eligibility review. Such athletes do not represent their state, may not compete under the Russian or Belarusian flag, and the official protocol does not include the national anthems, colours or other national insignia of Russia or Belarus.
According to IOC rules, the status of an individual neutral athlete cannot be obtained by a person who actively supports the war in Ukraine. Also, athletes and members of support staff connected with the Russian or Belarusian military, or national security agencies, cannot be accepted in that status. The IOC has established a special eligibility review panel that assesses athletes and their support staff, and its powers have been extended to the period after participation at the Games as well.
Moscow considers such a system unacceptable because, according to the Russian interpretation, it turns athletes into competitors without a national identity. The International Olympic Committee, on the other hand, claims that it is trying to maintain a balance between the right of individual athletes to compete and sanctions against the Russian state, Russian state officials and sports structures that have violated the rules of the Olympic movement. It is precisely this tension that lies at the centre of the conflict between Moscow and Olympic institutions.
International federations are acting differently
Although the Olympic framework remains restrictive towards Russia, certain international federations have recently been gradually easing measures. The most visible example is World Aquatics, the international federation for aquatic sports, which in April 2026 allowed Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete with national uniforms, flags and anthems at its competitions. The decision applies to swimming, diving, artistic swimming, open-water swimming, high diving and water polo, but it is applied within the competitions of that federation, not automatically to the Olympic Games.
Such decisions create a complex picture because an athlete from Russia may compete under national insignia in one system, while at an Olympic competition he or she must still satisfy neutral status. International federations have their own autonomy in organising their competitions, but the Olympic Games remain under IOC rules. Therefore, the return of the Russian flag in certain sports does not automatically mean the abolition of Olympic restrictions.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne has also played an important role in shaping the space for the return of some Russian and Belarusian athletes. In December 2025, according to agency reports, CAS overturned a decision by the International Ski and Snowboard Federation under which Russian and Belarusian athletes had been excluded from qualification competitions for the Winter Olympic Games. The court concluded that athletes who meet the criteria for individual neutral athletes should have the opportunity to participate in the qualifications. That ruling did not mean a full return under national symbols, but it further weakened the possibility of complete bans that do not distinguish between individual athletes.
Ukraine continues to warn about the political dimension of sports decisions
Ukrainian authorities and numerous Ukrainian athletes continuously warn that the return of Russian athletes, especially under national symbols, has political consequences. Their argument is directed not only at individual competitors, but at the fact that the Russian state often uses sport as part of official propaganda and international promotion. For that reason, in Ukraine decisions on restoring the flag and anthem are not viewed as neutral administrative issues, but as the symbolic normalisation of a state that is still waging war.
Reactions were particularly sharp after the World Aquatics decision. According to reports by international media, the Ukrainian side assessed such moves as unacceptable, and in some cases Ukrainian national teams and athletes refused to participate in competitions against Russian teams. This opens up the practical question of organising tournaments: even when an international federation allows Russia to compete, opposition from other participants may produce new disputes, boycotts and disciplinary proceedings.
For international sports organisations, this means that every decision to ease measures carries legal, sporting and political consequences. Federations must balance the principle of non-discrimination of athletes, the safety of competitions, respect for Olympic rules and pressure from member states. That balance is becoming increasingly complex as qualifications for major competitions approach, including the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games, which Moscow sees as a possible target for a more complete return.
What Degtyarev wants to achieve by Los Angeles 2028
In public appearances, Degtyarev increasingly speaks about the period after the 2026 Winter Olympic Games and about preparations for Los Angeles 2028. According to his statements reported by Russian and international sports media, Moscow is maintaining contacts with Olympic structures and international federations in order to restore the presence of Russian athletes in as many sports as possible. In doing so, the Russian side seeks to use every decision by an individual federation as proof that the existing sanctions regime is gradually changing.
But the path towards a full return remains uncertain. The IOC has not announced a decision that would lift the suspension of the Russian Olympic Committee, and decisions on participation in future Games will depend on legal assessments, anti-doping issues, the security context and developments in the war in Ukraine. In addition, international federations are not acting uniformly: some have opened wider space for the return of Russian and Belarusian athletes, while others retain stricter restrictions or face court proceedings.
That is why Degtyarev's statements should be read as part of a Russian strategy of pressure and communication towards the international sports system. Moscow wants to present the return of national symbols as an irreversible process, while the IOC continues to insist on distinguishing between individual athletes and state structures. In that gap lies the main dilemma of world sport: how to enable competition for athletes who meet the conditions, while at the same time not relativising the reasons why the sanctions were introduced.
World sport remains divided
The Russian minister's claim that world sport is not complete without Russia and Belarus reflects Moscow's position, but it does not change the fact that the international sports system is divided. One part of sports organisations increasingly emphasises the right of individuals to compete without collective punishment, while another warns that national symbols in a wartime context cannot be neutral. Precisely for that reason, the current process is not unfolding as a single decision, but as a series of partial changes, legal proceedings and political messages.
For Russian athletes, this means that the rules differ from sport to sport and from competition to competition. In some disciplines they can return under national insignia, in others they may compete only as neutral individuals, and in a third group the doors remain partly or completely closed to them. For Ukrainian athletes and sports officials, every new easing of measures remains a sensitive issue because it is taking place while the war is still ongoing and while sports infrastructure, clubs and athletes in Ukraine are directly affected by the consequences of aggression.
In such circumstances, Degtyarev's reference to Putin's orders shows how much the struggle for a return to international sport has become part of broader Russian state policy. At the same time, the decisions of the IOC, international federations and the Court of Arbitration for Sport show that the final outcome will not be determined only by political messages from Moscow, but by a combination of legal criteria, sports rules, security assessments and the reactions of the rest of the international sports community.
Sources:
- User's source text – initial statement about Degtyarev, Putin's orders and the Russian demand for the return of national symbols
- International Olympic Committee – decision on the suspension of the Russian Olympic Committee from October 2023 (link)
- International Olympic Committee – rules for individual neutral athletes at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games (link)
- International Olympic Committee – decision to end the recommended restrictions for Belarusian athletes and explanation of Russia's different status (link)
- TASS – statements by Mikhail Degtyarev on the possible consideration of restoring the status of the Russian Olympic Committee (link)
- NBC Sports – report on the IOC decision under which restrictions for Belarus are no longer recommended, while the Russian regime remains in force (link)
- NBC Sports – report on the World Aquatics decision allowing Russian and Belarusian flags, anthems and uniforms at competitions of that federation (link)
- Channel NewsAsia / AFP – report on the decision of the Court of Arbitration for Sport on Russian and Belarusian skiers and snowboarders in qualifications for Milano Cortina 2026 (link)