Russia announces a return to almost all sports by the end of 2026, but the decision is not in Moscow’s hands
Russian Minister of Sport and President of the Russian Olympic Committee Mikhail Degtyarev stated that he expects Russia’s return to “almost all sports” by the end of 2026, thereby reopening an issue that has burdened international sport for more than four years. His message comes at a time when some sports organizations are gradually moving away from complete bans, but key decisions still remain fragmented across individual federations, disciplines and competitions. According to the previous decisions of the International Olympic Committee, Russian athletes have not been restored to full Olympic status, but within the Olympic system they were able to compete only under strict neutral conditions, without the state flag, anthem or team national squads. At the same time, some federations are maintaining complete bans, while others allow individual appearances after neutrality checks. For that reason, Degtyarev’s statement for now reflects Moscow’s political and sporting ambition more than an already adopted international decision.
For months, Degtyarev has publicly sought to portray the return of Russian athletes as a process that is accelerating. In April, the Russian Olympic Committee conveyed his assessment that the 2026 Winter Olympic Games in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo should be the last at which Russian athletes compete under neutral status. In the same announcement, he stated that for Moscow a “full return to the international stage” is one of the main priorities of sports policy. However, official documents and decisions by international bodies show a more complex picture: Russia’s return is not a single process, but a series of separate procedures in which the war in Ukraine, Olympic rules, competition security, the status of the Russian Olympic Committee and long-standing issues connected with the Russian anti-doping system are all being considered at the same time.
Neutral status remains the central mechanism of the Olympic system
After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the International Olympic Committee did not restore Russian and Belarusian athletes under national symbols, but developed a model of participation as individual neutral athletes. Under IOC rules, that status applies to athletes with a Russian or Belarusian passport who meet the qualification criteria of their sport and pass additional checks. The IOC states that under this model, teams with Russian or Belarusian passports cannot compete, nor can athletes and members of support personnel who actively support the war. Such an approach was applied at the Paris 2024 Summer Olympic Games, and in September 2025 the IOC announced that the same conditions would also apply to the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games.
For Moscow, neutral status is politically unacceptable because it removes state symbols from international competitions. For the IOC and some international federations, by contrast, it is a compromise between the principle that athletes should not automatically be held responsible for the actions of authorities and the position that the Russian state must not be allowed full sporting representation while the war continues and while open questions remain about respect for the Olympic Charter. According to the IOC, previously introduced measures against Russian and Belarusian authorities are connected with the violation of the Olympic Truce and the Olympic Charter after the invasion of Ukraine. In practice, this means that each athlete requires an individual check, while national delegations and team appearances remain outside the Olympic model.
An additional problem for Russia remains the status of the Russian Olympic Committee. In October 2023, the IOC suspended the Russian Olympic Committee after that organization included in its membership sports organizations from the territory of Ukrainian regions that Russia considers annexed. According to the IOC decision, the Russian Olympic Committee did not have the right to operate as a national Olympic committee within the meaning of the Olympic Charter or to receive funding from the Olympic movement. Although Moscow claimed that the legal obstacles to continuing the suspension had been removed, the IOC has continued to take a cautious approach. This is especially important because announcements about a “return to almost all sports” cannot be achieved only by a political decision from the Russian side, but depend on a change in the position of international bodies.
A new obstacle: the anti-doping system and the RUSADA case
In addition to the war in Ukraine, Russian sport is also burdened by the legacy of doping scandals. The World Anti-Doping Agency has for years been conducting proceedings connected with the Russian anti-doping system, and the question of the compliance of the Russian Anti-Doping Agency, known as RUSADA, is not separate from the discussion about the return of Russian athletes. WADA announced back in 2023 that the RUSADA case had been referred to the Court of Arbitration for Sport after the Russian side contested the findings of non-compliance, the proposed consequences and the conditions for reinstatement. In the document on the conditions for reinstatement, WADA states that RUSADA must meet the remaining critical requirements and respect the consequences of non-compliance in order to be recognized again.
The debate was further sharpened in May 2026 after The Guardian’s report about new allegations concerning Veronika Loginova, the director general of RUSADA. The Guardian reported that WADA was examining allegations connected with the Russian anti-doping system and the period of the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympic Games, while IOC President Kirsty Coventry said the claims had caused “great concern”. According to the same report, Loginova rejected the accusations, and Degtyarev criticized the delay in the return of the Russian Olympic Committee, claiming that the reasons for the continued blockade had been removed. Such a difference in interpretation shows why Russia’s international reintegration is not only a matter of the sports calendar, but also of trust in the institutions that oversee the cleanliness of competitions.
The anti-doping issue is particularly sensitive because it predates the war in Ukraine and has its own legal history. Russian sport was under international restrictions even before 2022 because of systematic doping and the manipulation of data from the Moscow laboratory. For that reason, two levels often overlap in international discussions: sanctions connected with the war and procedures connected with the credibility of the anti-doping system. Even if some political sanctions were eased, individual federations and anti-doping bodies could continue to demand additional guarantees, independent checks and the fulfillment of special conditions before a full return.
Athletics and football remain among the toughest obstacles
The biggest obstacle to Russian announcements is visible in sports in which international federations are maintaining strict decisions. In March 2023, World Athletics reinstated the Russian Athletics Federation as a member after a years-long suspension for doping reasons, but at the same time confirmed that Russian and Belarusian athletes, members of support teams, officials and federation representatives remain excluded from World Athletics competitions because of the war in Ukraine. The World Athletics decision clearly stated that the decision connected with the war was separate from the anti-doping issue. According to the same document, the restrictions continue “for the foreseeable future”, and a working group was established to recommend conditions for their possible lifting.
The Guardian also reported on 7 May 2026 that World Athletics does not intend to readmit Russia and Belarus until there is “tangible progress” in peace negotiations on Ukraine. This is an important signal because athletics carries great symbolic weight in the Olympic system, and its position often influences the broader debate on acceptable conditions for return. If athletics remains closed to Russian athletes under national symbols, the claim of a return to “almost all sports” will be difficult to achieve in its full meaning. Russian athletes in some disciplines may receive individual opportunities, but a full return of the national team and national symbols in athletics has not been confirmed for now.
The situation is similar in football. FIFA and UEFA jointly announced on 28 February 2022 that all Russian clubs and national teams were suspended from their competitions until further notice. UEFA’s regulations for club competitions in 2026/27 still contain a note that Russian teams and clubs are suspended from UEFA competitions until further decision, in accordance with the decision of the UEFA Executive Committee from February 2022. This means that Russian national teams and clubs, according to the available official rules, have not been restored to European and world football qualifiers. Because of its popularity and institutional strength, football is an especially important test of Degtyarev’s announcement: without a change in the position of FIFA and UEFA, it is not possible to speak of a general return of Russian sport.
Paralympic sport shows that federations’ approaches increasingly differ
Unlike the IOC and some Olympic federations, the International Paralympic Committee made a decision that was considerably more favorable for Moscow. The IPC announced that its General Assembly in September 2025 decided not to maintain the partial suspension of the national Paralympic committees of Russia and Belarus, thereby restoring their full membership rights and privileges. In an update from October 2025, the IPC stated that international federations for sports on the programme of the Winter Paralympic Games were providing specific information about the possible participation of athletes from Russia and Belarus in Milan and Cortina in 2026.
That decision shows that international sport is no longer moving along a single line of complete exclusion. Instead, a fragmented system is emerging in which one sport or one organization may allow participation under national symbols, others may allow only neutral individuals, and still others may maintain a complete ban. For the Russian side, this creates space for the claim that isolation is gradually decreasing. For opponents of return, especially in Ukraine and among countries calling for the continuation of sanctions, the same process raises the question of consistency and the possibility that sport could serve political normalization while the war is still ongoing.
This is precisely why Degtyarev’s announcement has a dual function. It is a message to the domestic public that Russian sports diplomacy is producing results, but also a signal to international federations that Moscow expects further easing. Russian officials often emphasize bilateral sports ties with countries that do not support Russia’s isolation, alternative competitions and legal proceedings before international bodies. Still, the international calendar of major competitions does not depend only on bilateral contacts. A real return to the most important systems requires decisions by organizations that govern Olympic sports, football, anti-doping and major professional competitions.
What a “return by the end of 2026” could mean in practice
If Degtyarev’s forecast is viewed literally, it would mean that by the end of 2026 most international federations should lift or substantially ease restrictions on Russian athletes. However, according to available official decisions, such an outcome is not guaranteed. The most likely scenario is not a sudden return of all Russian national teams and clubs, but the gradual expansion of a model in which individuals return under neutral or specially approved conditions, while team sports and national symbols remain the subject of the most politically sensitive decisions. Such a model already exists in the Olympic system and in some individual sports, but it is not the same as full reintegration.
The key question will be whether international federations link the return to progress in the peace process in Ukraine or to exclusively sporting criteria. World Athletics explicitly ties the decision to the broader context of the war, while the IOC formally combines bans on state symbols, individual checks and conditions of neutrality. WADA, on the other hand, assesses the compliance of the anti-doping system and the conditions for the reinstatement of RUSADA. FIFA and UEFA are for now maintaining the football suspension until further notice. The sum of these decisions shows that Russia’s return cannot be resolved by one statement or one political agreement.
As of 13 May 2026, no unified international decision had been announced that would restore Russia to all or almost all sports. There are signs of easing in certain areas, including the Paralympic system and certain individual appearances, but there are also firm obstacles in athletics, football, the Olympic status of the Russian Olympic Committee and the anti-doping procedure. For that reason, Degtyarev’s statement represents an important political announcement, but not confirmation of a change in the rules. Whether his forecast will come true by the end of 2026 will depend on decisions by international federations, the outcome of proceedings before sporting and anti-doping bodies and the broader development of the war in Ukraine.
Sources:
- Russian Olympic Committee – April 2026 announcement with Mikhail Degtyarev’s statements on neutral status and the return of Russian athletes (link)
- International Olympic Committee – rules and explanations on individual neutral athletes with a Russian or Belarusian passport (link)
- International Olympic Committee – decision on the participation of individual neutral athletes at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games (link)
- International Olympic Committee – decision on the suspension of the Russian Olympic Committee from October 2023 (link)
- World Athletics – Council decisions on the Russian Athletics Federation, Belarus and sanctions connected with the war in Ukraine (link)
- FIFA – joint decision by FIFA and UEFA on the suspension of Russian clubs and national teams from competitions until further notice (link)
- UEFA – regulations for the 2026/27 UEFA Champions League with a note on the continued suspension of Russian clubs and teams (link)
- World Anti-Doping Agency – document on the consequences of non-compliance and conditions for the reinstatement of RUSADA (link)
- International Paralympic Committee – update on the status of the national Paralympic committees of Russia and Belarus ahead of Milano Cortina 2026 (link)
- The Guardian – report of 7 May 2026 on the delay of Russia’s sporting return and new anti-doping allegations (link)
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