The International Modern Pentathlon Federation has lifted all sanctions against Belarusian athletes.
This is stated in a statement on the organizationʼs official website.
Now, athletes from Belarus will compete under their own flag in both individual and team tournaments. The federation explained that the decision was made in response to updated recommendations from the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
The new rules will come into effect in June 2026 during the World Cup stage in Budapest. At the same time, at the next stage of the World Cup, which starts on May 13 in Bulgaria, Belarusian athletes will still compete in neutral status.
Previously, sanctions were lifted from Belarus in aquatic sports, and the local federation made the same decision regarding Russia, although the IOC did not recommend making changes to their status.
What preceded
Recommendations on restrictions for Belarusian athletes were adopted on February 28, 2022, due to Belarusʼ participation in the full-scale aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine. But this year, on May 7, IOC recommended that sports associations lift restrictions on Belarusian representatives and allow them to compete in international competitions under the national flag.
The National Olympic Committee of Ukraine expressed a categorical protest against this decision.
Currently, Belarusian athletes are allowed to compete with national symbols in aquatics, judo, sambo, taekwondo, football, futsal, and beach soccer.
At the same time, the governing body of athletics, World Athletics, rejected the IOCʼs recommendation to lift sanctions on Belarus.
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