Nine European Union countries are calling for funding cuts to sports organizations, including the International Olympic Committee, over the readmission of Russian athletes.
Published July 14, 2026
Nine European countries have asked the European Union to cut funding to sports bodies, including the International Olympic Committee (IOC), which has allowed athletes from Russia and Belarus to return to competition, the Estonian Ministry of Culture said.
The proposal, addressed to Glenn Micallef, European Commission’s head of intergenerational equity, youth, culture and sport, targets major bodies such as the IOC, World Aquatics and the International Fencing Federation (FIE).
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The move marks the strongest collective push yet by EU member states to use their financial influence on international sports bodies over the return of Russian and Belarusian athletes, and could set off a potential conflict between European governments and the Olympic movement ahead of the 2028 Los Angeles Games.
The IOC, World Aquatics and FIE did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
On July 7, the IOC Executive Board provisionally lifted the suspension of the Russian Olympic Committee, noting that previous restrictions on Russian athletes enacted in response to Russia’s four-and-a-half year war with Ukraine no longer apply.
Nine European countries (Estonia, Denmark, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania and Sweden) called for their governing bodies to be excluded from the EU’s Erasmus+ and other financial support programmes.
“Respect for human rights, the rule of law and peaceful relations between nations are among the core principles that underpin international sport and the Olympic movement,” they wrote in the letter.
The nine countries argued that allowing athletes from Russia and Belarus to return to competition ignores the reality of Ukrainian athletes who are unable to train under equal conditions due to evacuation, destruction of infrastructure or joining the military.
“Claims that sport can be divorced from politics ring hollow when thousands of innocent Ukrainians have lost their lives and sport continues to be used as a tool by the Russian and Belarusian regimes,” the statement said.
In addition to stripping financial support from sports organizations, the nine countries proposed restricting non-compliant organizations’ involvement in major European sports forums and EU-led development discussions.
