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“The IOC Executive Board recommendation from March 2023 with regard to teams of athletes with a Russian passport remains in place,” an IOC spokesperson said, according to a report. “It is based on the fact that, by definition, a group of Individual Neutral Athletes cannot be considered a team.”
Affirmation of a continued ban, which began as part of sanctions imposed on Russia following its 2022 invasion of Ukraine, arrives after International Ice Hockey Federation President Luc Tardif was quoted as saying the IOC had planned to exclude Russia and its star-studded hockey team from next year’s games.
“We have been pressuring them to make a decision, one way or another, because we’re getting closer to the Olympics and we need to know,” Tardif said.
“Recently, they asked us to send them a schedule without Russia, so that’s where we are. The official statement is pending but the IOC has told us that they are informing the Russian Olympic Committee that they are not participating in the Olympics.”