In response to Russia’s unprovoked war on Ukraine, countries across the world are canceling sporting events and other matchups involving Russian teams and athletes.
For events that cannot feasibly be canceled due to planning or legal reasons, athletes from the countries will participate only as neutral athletes, lacking any national symbols, colors, flags or anthems.
The Russian team was already serving a multiyear ban from the Olympics as punishment for the country’s state-sponsored doping program during the 2014 Sochi Olympics.
The IOC said in a statement that the move was needed to “protect the integrity of global sports competitions and for the safety of all the participants.”
The action follows a surge of teams declining to move forward with planned matches against Russia, across a wide range of sports:
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