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18-07-2026
BRUSSELS: Nine European nations have asked the European Union to cut funding to sports bodies including the International Olympic Committee (IOC), that let Russian and Belarusian athletes return to competition, Estonia’s Ministry of Culture has said.
Addressed to European Commissioner for Intergenerational Fairness, Youth, Culture and Sport Glenn Micallef, the proposal targets major bodies including the IOC, World Aquatics and the International Fencing Federation (FIE).
The move marks the strongest collective push yet by EU member states to use the bloc’s financial leverage against international sports bodies over the return of Russian and Belarusian athletes, setting up a potential confrontation between European governments and the Olympic movement ahead of the 2028 Los Angeles Games.
The IOC, World Aquatics and FIE did not immediately reply to requests for comment.
On July 7, the IOC executive board provisionally lifted its suspension of the Russian Olympic Committee and noted that previous restrictions on Russian athletes, enacted in response to Russia’s four-and-a-half-year war on Ukraine, were no longer applicable.
The nine European nations, Estonia, Denmark, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania and Sweden have called for these governing bodies to be excluded from the EU’s Erasmus+ and other financial support programs.
“Respect for human rights, the rule of law, and peaceful relations between nations are among the core principles underpinning international sport and the Olympic movement,” they wrote in the letter.
The nine nations said allowing Russian and Belarusian athletes back into competition ignores the reality of Ukrainian competitors, who are unable to train under equal conditions due to displacement, destruction of infrastructure, or enlistment in the armed forces.
“Any assertions that sport can be separated from politics ring hollow when thousands of innocent Ukrainians have lost their lives and when sport continues to be instrumentalised by the Russian and Belarusian regimes,” the statement said.
In addition to stripping the sports bodies of financial support, the nine countries proposed limiting the involvement of noncompliant organizations in key European sports forums and EU-led development discussions.
Earlier, Ukrainian tennis star Marta Kostiuk on July 8 condemned the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) decision to provisionally lift the suspension of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC), calling the move “terrible.”
Kostiuk spoke to reporters just after becoming the second Ukrainian woman ever to advance to the semifinals at Wimbledon. The previous day, the IOC’s Executive Board lifted the ban on Russia that been in place since October 2023.
“My thoughts are that it’s terrible,” Kostiuk said of the IOC ruling, according to ESPN.
“I think it’s very, very far from fair play for all the countries involved here, not just for Ukraine. I 100% don’t agree with this decision. … I just want to go out there and hopefully beat every single Russian I play in the Olympics.”
Russian and Belarusian athletes have competed as “neutral” players in international sports tournaments, including the Olympic Games, since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
In their recent decision, the IOC recommended the neutral status be removed for athletes in individual sports, paving the way for Russian flags to fly at the Games once again.
Kostiuk told the press that it was difficult to focus on tennis while competing at Wimbledon amid Russia’s recent ballistic missile blitz against Kyiv. (Int’l News Desk)
