Israel gets green light to participate in the 2026 Winter Olympic Games: Which countries are banned from participating?

Earlier this week, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez called for Israel to be excluded from international sports competitions in the same way that Russia was banned from major sporting events and condemned for the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

But Israel will be competing at next year’s Olympic Winter Games which will be staged in Lombardy and Northeast Italy. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) issued a statement at the start of the month after Australian cricketer Usman Khawaja urged sporting bodies to consider excluding Israel from global competitions.

The IOC confirmed that teams from both Israel and Palestine “participated in the Olympic Games Paris 2024 and their athletes were living peacefully together under one roof in the Olympic Village,” adding that both nations are recognized and will continue to “enjoy equal privileges.”

Which countries won’t be taking part at the XXV Winter Olympic Games?

Two countries that won’t be taking part in the 2026 Winter Olympic Games are Russia and Belarus. In February 2022, the two nations’ respective Olympic Committees were suspended for violating the Olympic Truce due to the invasion of Ukraine.

However, that doesn’t mean that individual Russian and Belarusian athletes cannot compete at the 2026 Games. They are eligible to participate as “Individual Neutral Athletes” (AIN) without national identification.

At the 2024 Paris Games, 32 athletes (17 men and 15 women) competed as AINs and won a total of five medals. Belarusian Ivan Litvinovich took home the gold medal in the Men’s trampoline event as a neutral.

Russia competed in the 2022 Winter Games in Beijing under the “ROC” acronym but the IOC Executive Board subsequently suspended the Russian Olympic Committee on October 12 2023. The ban remains in place “until further notice”.

The IOC is expected to clarify its stance at Friday’s press conference at the Westin Palace Hotel in Milan.

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