The International Judo Federation (IJF) has announced that Russian athletes will be able to compete with their national flag from this week. The first tournament where it will take effect will be the Abu Dhabi Grand Slam, which will take place from Friday to Sunday.
In September 2022, the IJF banned Russian and Belarusian judokas from participating in global tournaments until January 2023 in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. When athletes from Russia and Belarus were allowed to compete in the 2023 World Championships as neutrals, Ukraine boycotted the tournament.
Belarus already received permission to return with its own flag in June of this year, and now the IJF has given the green light to Russia as well.
A statement from the federation noted that historically Russia has been one of the leading judo nations in the world and their full return will enrich competition at all levels while upholding the IJF’s principles of fairness, inclusion and respect. The organization added that sport is a bridge that unites people and countries in difficult conflict situations.
The IJF’s decision follows the International Paralympic Committee in September lifting some restrictions on para-athletes from Russia and Belarus, allowing them to compete under their national flag at the 2026 Winter Paralympics. However, they will not be able to participate in the Milan-Cortina games, as several individual sports federations did not support the decision or the qualifying countries had already been determined.
A similar situation is developing in the Olympic Games: the International Olympic Committee allows athletes from Russia and Belarus to participate as neutrals in the 2026 Winter Olympics, but the International Skiing and Snowboarding Federation voted against this option last month, so athletes from these sports from both countries will not participate in the Games.
