Svitolina slams IOC move allowing Belarusian athletes back under flag

Elina Svitolina sharply rejected the International Olympic Committee’s decision to let Belarusian athletes compete under their own flag again, arguing that the war in Ukraine is still active and that sport cannot be sealed off from the aggression around it. Speaking in Rome during the Italian Open, the Ukrainian player said the IOC move landed as an insult while rockets were still striking her country.

“Rockets are still going to Ukraine. Those two countries are still considered aggressors,” Svitolina said, adding that she was “definitely not supporting the talks” about easing restrictions. Her remarks came in a week when she was already under scrutiny for refusing to shake hands with Russian and Belarusian opponents after matches, a gesture that has become one of the clearest symbols of the sport’s unresolved divide over the war.

The IOC Executive Board lifted its recommended conditions of participation for Belarus on May 7, saying Belarusian athletes could compete under their own identity. The committee said the change was meant to preserve a values-based, truly global sporting platform and argued that athletes should not be limited by the actions of their governments. It also pointed to the fact that Belarusian athletes had already competed as Individual Neutral Athletes at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games and the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics.

The IOC drew a line between Belarus and Russia. It said the Belarus decision did not apply to Russian athletes because the Russian Olympic Committee remains suspended. The committee also cited the coming LA28 qualification period as part of the timing for its decision, signaling that the issue would shape how athletes enter the next Olympic cycle.

Tennis officials moved quickly to clarify that the IOC ruling did not change the sport’s own restrictions. The International Tennis Federation said on May 8 that Belarusian and Russian players would continue competing as neutrals, while both countries remained barred from Davis Cup, Billie Jean King Cup and other ITF team competitions. The Belarus Tennis Federation’s membership status is due to be considered at the ITF Annual General Meeting in October.

The split inside tennis underscores the wider institutional tension. Aryna Sabalenka, the women’s world No. 1 and a four-time Grand Slam winner, has said she hopes to regain national representation. Daniil Medvedev, the 2021 U.S. Open champion, also remained under neutral status. For Ukrainian athletes such as Svitolina, the issue was less about administrative labels than the reality of a war that has not ended, and a sporting system still trying to separate participation from state violence.