World Athletics has rejected a recommendation by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) that a ban on Belarusian athletes and teams competing under the flag of their nation should be lifted.

Last week, the IOC’s executive board urged international sports federations and event organisers to allow the country to return to international competition, while keeping restrictions on Russia in place.

Both countries were suspended from Olympic competition after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, with Belarus a close ally of Russia. A partial ban – allowing athletes to compete as neutrals – was introduced in 2023.

The IOC said that since 2023 “athletes with a Belarusian passport have participated as individual neutral athletes (AINs) in numerous international sporting events, as well as the Paris 2024 Olympic Games and the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games, without any incident on or off the field of play.

However, in response, a spokesperson for World Athletics said: “As a consequence of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, World Athletics sanctions implemented in March 2022 excluding Belarusian and Russian athletes, officials and supporting personnel from competition remain in place.

“Our council has made a clear decision that when there is tangible movement towards peace negotiations it can begin to review its decisions. We all hope this will be soon, but until that happens the council continues to be united in standing behind the decision it made in March 2022 and revisited in 2023 and 2025.”

The recommendation and response come with the qualification period for both the LA28 Olympic Games and the Dolomiti Valtellina 2028 Winter Youth Olympic Games starting this summer.

In a statement in response to the IOC request, the National Olympic Committee of Ukraine expressed its “categorical protest and deep disappointment with such a decision of the IOC, which contradicts the fundamental principles of justice, responsibility and Olympic values”.

It added: “This decision was made at a time when Belarus continues to support the armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine and remains an accomplice in the war. The territory of Belarus is used to launch missiles and strike drones at Ukrainian cities, as well as for military logistics and support for the Russian army.

Vadym Gutzeit, the president of the National Olympic Committee of Ukraine, added that: “The IOC’s decision is a dangerous precedent for the entire international sports movement.

IOC president Kirsty Coventry said that Russia could compete at the Games in Los Angeles in two years’ time.

But the IOC has decided that doping issues mean it is not ready to lift its ban on the country.

The World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) recently announced that more than 300 sanctions have been handed to Russian athletes following the seizure of Moscow laboratory data in 2019.  –BBC

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