Giochi invernali, guerra invernale: perché i russi “neutrali” non sono neutrali [OPINION]

[](https://tvpworld.com/86577480/stuart-dowell)Edited by: Patrick Łagódka 05.02.2026, 16:03

**The 2026 Winter Olympics open this week in Milan-Cortina, and thirteen Russian athletes will take part as “neutral” competitors.**

At the same moment, Russia continues to strike Ukraine’s energy grid during sub-zero temperatures, deliberately leaving families without heat in the middle of winter. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) speaks of peace and unity while Russia is weaponizing the very season itself. 

Allowing Russian participation under a neutral label in these circumstances is grotesque. Floating the prospect of a full return to the Olympic fold in 2028, without Russia reversing the actions that led to its exclusion, goes further still. It treats aggression, annexation and the destruction of Ukrainian sport as inconveniences to be managed rather than moral red lines. 

# Neutrality fiction 

But in Russia, neutrality in sport is a fiction. Elite athletes are largely produced by a state-run system that does not recognize independence from political power, regardless of the color of the tracksuit.  

The IOC’s decision to permit even limited Russian participation is framed as an effort to [separate athletes from state politics](https://tvpworld.com/90504435/olympics-ioc-wants-return-of-russian-belarusian-youth-athletes), but combined with recent comments from IOC leadership suggesting a pathway back to full participation at the Los Angeles 2028 Games, it signals that Russia is on a path to full restoration in Olympic sport. 

The destruction of Ukrainian sport, the killing of its athletes and coaches, and Russia’s annexation of sporting infrastructure in occupied territories are being treated as temporary inconveniences rather than morally disqualifying acts. 

# The IOC compromise 

The Russian Olympic Committee remains suspended. There will be no Russian flag, no anthem, no national delegation in the opening ceremony. The [thirteen Russians cleared to compete](https://tvpworld.com/89018940/russians-to-compete-under-neutral-flag-at-2026-winter-olympics) must prove they hold no contracts with the military or security services and have not actively supported the war. They must also sign commitments to the Olympic Charter and its peace mission. This framework is presented as a principled compromise. 

The problem is that Russian elite sport sits inside a state-managed prestige system that overlaps with the armed forces, security apparatus and state corporations. Institutions such as the Central Sports Club of the Army (CSKA) and Dynamo, the police and FSB-linked sports society, have historically formed the backbone of Russia’s Olympic program. For decades, a substantial proportion of Russian Olympic medalists have held military ranks or been developed within institutions formally tied to state power. 

Russian officials describe athletic success in explicitly political terms. In November 2025, Russia’s sports minister and head of its Olympic Committee, Mikhail Degtyarev, said plainly that “the victories of our athletes are our most important diplomacy.” Neutrality assumes a separation between athlete and state. That separation does not exist in the Russian system. 

There’s no need to make it long.

You can’t be neutral, you either are supporting Russia or you are condemning it.

Afaik many Russian athletes have links with the oligarchs/military too.

What is the point of pretending that they are „neutral” athletes? It’s like when someone who shit themselves is saying „no i didn’t shit myself” but everyone around them can smell the shit in their underwear.

Just using a convenient loop hole… the Committee might loose some ticket sales!

you are either pro war or against war. there is no neutral