--- title: "Vadym Gutzeit on the IOC decision: 'Washed their hands' and opened the way for Russians to the 2028 Olympics" description: "Vadym Gutzeit stated that the IOC has 'washed its hands' and is shifting responsibility for admitting Russians to federations. The head of the Ukrainian NOC called this a direct threat to the 2028 Olympics. πŸ‡ΊπŸ‡¦πŸš«πŸ‡·πŸ‡Ί" date: 2026-07-07T17:34:00.000Z lang: en url: https://xab.info/en/posts/gutzeit-on-the-ioc-decision-opened-the-way-for-russians-to-the-2028-olympics tags: [] publisher: "XAB.info" --- # Vadym Gutzeit on the IOC decision: 'Washed their hands' and opened the way for Russians to the 2028 Olympics ![Vadim Gutzeit at a desk with laptop and Ukrainian flag, commenting on IOC’s decision to allow Russians at 2028 Olympics](https://xab.info/media/2026/07/07/gutcajt-o-reshenii-mok-otkryli-put-rossiyanam-k-olimpiade-2028/gutcajt-o-reshenii-mok-otkryli-put-rossiyanam-k-olimpiade-2028-1.webp) Vadym Gutzeit, Head of the National Olympic Committee of Ukraine (NOC), commented on the decision by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to cancel protective recommendations regarding the suspension of athletes from Russia. According to the President of the Ukrainian NOC, this decision opens a direct path for Russian athletes to qualify for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. ### 'Washed their hands': shifting responsibility Gutzeit acknowledged that due to the haste of Olympic officials, Ukraine found itself in an extremely difficult position. In his opinion, the IOC has effectively 'washed its hands' of the matter, transferring all political pressure and responsibility for admitting Russians to individual international federations. "We see that they are returning step by step. Recently, they returned Belarusians, and now – Russians by decision of international federations. I do not yet have an answer on what we must do to ensure that representatives of aggressor states are not present at the Olympic Games in Los Angeles," noted the head of the NOC. ### Pressure on allies and the example of Estonia The head of the Ukrainian NOC revealed details on how international sports structures are breaking the resistance of countries supporting Ukraine. As an example of an unpleasant compromise, he cited the situation with Estonia. The state, considered one of Kyiv's closest allies, categorically refused to host the European Fencing Championship to avoid admitting Russians and Belarusians under their own flags. However, the International Federation stripped Estonia of the right to host the tournament. "They took away the right to host the European Championship and gave it to France, which agreed to host the championship with these admissions. France, which is our political partner and has been helping us since the first day of the war," summarized Gutzeit. ### Emergency negotiations and examples of resistance To prevent the full integration of Russia into the Olympic movement, the Ukrainian side has begun emergency negotiations with colleagues from the Baltics β€” Latvia and Lithuania, who are also shocked by the IOC's actions. Nevertheless, Gutzeit noted that there are positive examples. World Athletics categorically refused to comply with new trends and left the full ban on the RF and Belarus in effect, even in neutral status. ### List of returned sports The general list of federations that have already returned flags to aggressors is growing rapidly. Representatives of Russia and Belarus have been returned to full-fledged performances under their own flag in all age categories in the following sports: - Weightlifting - Wrestling - Sambo - Judo - Taekwondo - Muay Thai - Fencing - Artistic Gymnastics At the youth level, sanctions against Russians have been lifted in chess, fencing, and volleyball. It was also previously reported that FIFA admitted Russia to the new World Cup.