The International Olympic Committee announced that it will “explore a pathway” for Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete as neutrals at the 2024 Olympics.
After Russia attacked Ukraine, the IOC urged athletic federations to ban athletes from those nations.
Volodymyr Zelensky, president of Ukraine, stated last week that Russian athletes should have “no place” at the Paris Games.
However, the IOC’s comments on Wednesday might pave the way for their entrance once more.
It said “no athlete should be prevented from competing just because of their passport”.
Athletes for Ukraine and the athlete association Global Athlete jointly issued a statement criticizing the action.
The IOC “endorses Russia’s brutal war and invasion of Ukraine,” according to the statement.
“The return of Russian and Belarusian athletes to international competition, especially the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, will see the Russian state use athletes once more to bolster the war effort and distract from the atrocities in Ukraine on one of the biggest multi-sport stages in the world,” the statement added.
The IOC said participation in competition, which would also include qualification events, would need athletes to take part as neutrals “and in no way represent their state or any other organisation in their country”.
The athletes must not have “acted against the peace mission of the IOC by actively supporting the war in Ukraine”.