Russian and Belarusian tennis players will be allowed to participate in the Paris Olympics and Paralympics as neutral players, the International Tennis Federation (ITF) confirmed on Wednesday.
The ITF said players from Russia and Belarus would be allowed to register in an “individual and neutral capacity” to compete in singles and doubles competitions.
Athletes must meet the selection and eligibility conditions as well as comply with the regulations of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
“The ITF’s decision aligns with that of the majority of international federations (IFs) regarding individual competitions and athletes participating in the Paris 2024 Games this summer,” tennis’ world governing body said in a statement. .
An ITF spokesperson later told Reuters in an email that the decision applied to both singles and doubles.
“We wanted to ensure that all tennis players are treated fairly and consistently, regardless of the discipline in which they compete,” the spokesperson said.
“The international tennis policy in force since March 2022 allows Russian and Belarusian athletes to participate in singles and doubles as neutral individual athletes.
“Doubles pairs are allocated their place based on their individual performance on the circuits (measured by ranking), not that of their nation.”
Russians and Belarusians were banned from international competition following Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, for which Belarus was used as a staging base.
However, in March last year, the IOC published a series of recommendations for international sports federations to allow competitors from these countries to return.
Neutral athletes will compete without flags, emblems or anthems. Athletes who actively support the war in Ukraine are not eligible, nor are those under contract with the Russian or Belarusian military.
Tennis players already participate on the ATP/WTA tours as neutral players.
