Overview

• Competitors from Russia and Belarus may enter only as individual neutrals with no military ties and no public support for the invasion of Ukraine.
• The executive board approved the policy in Milan on September 19, mirroring the approach used at Paris 2024.
• Actual team sizes will hinge on international federations, with bodies such as FIS, biathlon and luge still barring these athletes and skating allowing only one per nation per discipline.
• The IOC says Israel’s case is not comparable and that Israel respects the Olympic Charter, so Israeli athletes continue to compete as normal.
• The Russian Olympic Committee remains suspended since 2023 for absorbing federations from annexed Ukrainian regions, a move the IOC deemed a Charter breach, while political calls including from Spain’s prime minister press for Israel’s exclusion.