It has been slightly over two years since the International Olympic Committee (IOC) officially suspended Russia for violating the Olympic Charter by unilaterally incorporating sports councils in four regions of eastern Ukraine.
That decision came just over six months after the IOC recommended that all international sports federations ban Russian and Belarusian athletes and teams from competition for violating the Olympic Truce. This was done following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and was supposedly designed to put the pressure on Russia to withdraw their troops.
Fast forward to December 2025, the sports isolation has done nothing towards the stance taken by the Russian government.
All it had done was victimize athletes, who mostly, had nothing to do with the political decisions. While some Russian and Belarusian athletes were allowed to participate in international events, they were not allowed to represent their respective countries, but only as neutral athletes (AIN)
Over the last few months, there has been a slow shift in re-evaluating the decision within the international sporting fraternity.
The first was the decision by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) to lift all sanctions against Russian and Belarus.
At their September general assembly in Seoul, the IPC first voted against a full suspension of Russia on Saturday (111-55, 11 abstentions). It was then followed by a vote against the partial suspension that had been in place (91-77, 8).
The same votes were then conducted regarding Belarus, with the partial suspension also lifted.
The decision by the IPC was quickly condemned by Ukraine. Sports Ministers from 33 predominantly European countries also issued joint condemnation of lifting of the IPC ban.
But, even more telling was last week’s decision by the International Judo Federation (IJF) to allow the two nations to participate without any restrictions.
Russian exponents represented their nation for the first time in three years at the just concluded Abu Dhabi Judo Grand Prix, where they ended at the top of the medal table with two gold and four silvers.
A couple of days ago, Dutch tennis star Tallon Griekspoor decided to play in a controversial Russian exhibition event, the North Palmyra Trophies. His decision comes despite a direct appeal from the Dutch foreign minister to reconsider for “moral reasons.”
Whether other international sports federation will follow suit, remains to be seen. But, it is clearly evident that the boycott of Russian sports has done nothing to abate the current war between Russia and Ukraine.
Three years is unlikely to put a dent on the issue. Let’s not forget that the South African sports boycott, because of its apartheid policies, started in 1977 and only ended in 1990 when the regime fell. It was even longer if you also consider the fact that South Africa was first barred from the Olympics in 1964.
While many are calling for sports boycott, Russian Embassies around the world are allowed to remain open, and the thousands of Russian businesses around the world were still being allowed to operate.
Are sports athletes being made as collateral damage that politicians and international sports leadership are conveniently using as optics?
After three years it is obvious that sports boycott has done nothing to stop Vladimir Putin from continued military aggression against the people of Ukraine.
Allowing Russian athletes to participate as AIN is also an oxymoron.
Some countries including Malaysia, Indonesia and Iran deny entry for Israeli athletes to locally hosted tournaments, but it has done nothing to help elevate the cause of the Palestines.
In fact it was sports that suffered. Malaysia for instance lost the right to host both the World Para Swimming Championships and the World Team Squash Championships, for the very same reason,
Indonesia denied visas to Israeli gymnasts including top medal hopeful Artem Dolgopyat, stopping for participation at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Jakarta earlier this year.
IOC quickly recommended that major sports events should no longer be held in Indonesia.
But Indonesia’s action nor IOC’s reaction helped the Palestinian cause in any way whatsoever.
In April 2024, the International Monetary Fund predicted that Russia’s economy would grow faster than all of the world’s advanced economies that year, including the US.
Sports sanctions does not work. While many countries decry the lifting of sports sanctions, they continue to do business with Russia.
The European Union spends billions on Russian gas. It is reported in the first 15 days of 2025, after an agreement allowing Russia to pump gas to the EU via pipelines running across Ukraine ended, the EU’s 27 countries imported Russian gas at a record rate.
And these were the same countries that were part of the 33 countries that condemned the IPC for lifting the sports sanctions on Russia and Belarus.
If political and economic sanctions does not work, how can sports sanctions be better?
Sports and its athletes should not be made scapegoats just because of its visibility.
S.T. Arasu is a two-time Malaysian Sportswriter of the Year
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