Australian government and AOC at odds over Olympic ban of Russian and Belarusian athletes

Protesters against the IOC plan to allow Russian and Belarusian athletes stand outside the Australian Olympic Committee’s office in Sydney last week. Photograph: Rex/Shutterstock

The Albanese government and the Australian Olympic Committee are at loggerheads over whether Russian and Belarusian athletes should be permitted to compete at the 2024 Olympics.

In January, the International Olympic Committee paved the way for athletes from the two nations to contest the Games in Paris through a “neutral athlete” status, despite the ongoing war in Ukraine, on the basis that “no athlete should be prevented from competing just because of their passport”.