Canada objects to Olympics loosening restrictions on Russia athletes amid Ukraine war

OTTAWA — Canada objected on Thursday to the International Olympic Committee loosening its suspension on Russian athletes.

The move, announced Tuesday, would apply to the 2028 games in Los Angeles, opening the door for Russian athletes to compete, but the IOC says it will decide later if they could do it with the Russian flag and anthem.

“I am appalled by the IOC’s decision,” wrote Secretary of State for sport Adam van Koeverden, a former Olympian.

“The countries of Russia and Belarus should not be represented in international sports competitions while Russia’s illegal and unjustifiable full-scale invasion against Ukraine continues,” he wrote.

He added Canada will not let Russian athletes be part of any domestic sports events funded by Ottawa.

Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand suggested the IOC decision can “risk normalizing Russia’s illegal war of aggression against Ukraine.”

The IOC executive board recommended suspending Russia and Belarus following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, and Belarus allowing Russia to use it as a military staging ground.

Several other international sport governing bodies, including FIFA, followed suit, while some allowed Russian athletes to compete only as neutral individuals, without the Russian flag.

Some have since lifted those too, including World Aquatics, which began allowing Russian senior athletes to compete in swimming competitions in April.

Since October 2023, the IOC began vetting Russian and Belarusian athletes for military and security agency ties, and allowed some to play as “individual neutral athletes” with a generic banner. About 20 athletes competed that way at the winter Olympics in Italy in February.

As of this week, that vetting is no longer required, with the IOC provisionally lifting restrictions.

“We don’t want to hold athletes accountable for the actions of their governments,” IOC President Kirsty Coventry said at an online news conference this week.

A two-time Olympic gold medallist swimming for Zimbabwe, Coventry said it was a fair decision and noted: “I wouldn’t be sitting here if I had to pay the price when my country was going through things and being sanctioned.”

Zimbabwe faced sanctions in the 2000s from countries like Canada who cited severe human rights violations and political violence under former president Robert Mugabe.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov praised the move Wednesday. “It is an important step toward reinstating our athletes’ legitimate rights to participate in international competitions,” he said.

The IOC said Russian government officials are still barred from Olympics events.

The IOC’s guidance to reintegrate Russians in international events is not binding for the governing bodies of individual sports.

Canada is not alone in its criticism of the IOC move. Estonia asked Thursday for the European Union to pull funding from the IOC over the Russia decision, and opposition to the move was expressed by Norway, the United Kingdom, Latvia and Sweden.

Others welcomed the move as an olive branch. The Olympic Council of Asia, which represents the Asian Olympic Movement, said in a statement on Tuesday, it welcomed the IOC decision.

“The OCA shares the IOC’s belief that athletes’ participation in international competitions should not be restricted by the wars or conflicts of the countries they are from,” the statement said.

FIFA president Gianni Infantino said in February FIFA might consider lifting the ban on Russia – the country was not allowed to compete in World Cup qualifiers in either 2022 or 2026. It said this week it will analyze the IOC decision before deciding what to do.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 9, 2026.

— With files from The Associated Press.

Dylan Robertson, The Canadian Press