Russian and Belarusian athletes will not participate in the Asian Games to be held in China at the end of September, the International Olympic Committee announced on Sunday, considering the project “not feasible”.
“The idea of the participation of athletes with Russian and Belarusian passports in the Asian Games 2023 was explored, as was said at the Olympic summit in December 2022, but it was not feasible for technical reasons”, explained an IOC spokesperson.
Both countries have been barred from many sporting events since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, although individual athletes have since been allowed to compete under certain conditions.
The IOC said earlier this year that consideration should be given to having their athletes participate in the Paris Olympics in 2024, but under a neutral banner.
At a meeting in Bangkok in July, the General Assembly of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) authorized a maximum of 500 athletes from these two countries to compete under conditions in the Asian Games, in order to enable them to obtain standards qualifying for the Olympics.
The Asian Games, originally scheduled for 2022, have been postponed for a year due to very strict anti-Covid rules in China. The events will take place from September 23 to October 8 in Hangzhou.
