The British Government has urged Olympic chiefs to allow Russian athletes to compete in the Paris Games this summer in a change of stance.
The decision to let Russian and Belarusian athletes compete in Paris under a neutral flag rests with the international federations of the individual Olympic sports; the International Olympic Committee supports their participation if there is no use of home flags, national teams or national anthems.
Any public support of Russia's invasion of Ukraine would also lead to disqualification. Lord Seb Coe is the British president of World Athletics and is opposed to the involvement of Russian and Belarusian athletes in Paris.
That stance was backed by the British Government. In fact, in March last year ministers wrote to sponsors of the Olympics urging them to put pressure on the IOC over its proposals to allow Russians and Belarusians to compete.
But according to The Times, the Government has now changed its stance. It is claimed that the Government has written a letter to IOC president Thomas Bach to state their support for Russian and Belarusian athletes.
Sports minister Stuart Andrew penned a letter to Bach in the past few days to inform him Britain now backs the IOC's position. The decision is yet to be publicly announced by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
But Bach himself has revealed the existence of the letter in a meeting with the Association of Summer Olympic International Sports Federations. The report claims that DCMS officials have confirmed Andrew has written the letter.
It is also alleged that the letter was sent with the endorsement of the British Olympic Association. Bach's revelation of the Government's letter is said to have come as a surprise to many at the ASOIF meeting.
In December, the IOC announced that Russian and Belarusian athletes should be allowed to compete in Paris as long as they have not shown support for the the war in Ukraine. The IOC's stance means that between 50 and 60 Russian and Belarusian athletes would take part in Paris.
The Government's change of heart is said to stem from the more recent anti-Russian rhetoric from the IOC. The Russian Olympic Committee remains suspended.
In response to news of the letter, a UK government spokesperson said: “Russian and Belarusian athletes representing their country should not be permitted in domestic or international sporting competition. That position still stands.”
They also claimed that the change comes after two years of lobbying to push the IOC to develop a clear position for individual Russian and Belarusian athletes to participate on a neutral basis. Last year, culture secretary Lucy Frazer wrote to the the UK chief executives of the IOC’s worldwide partners, urging them to help prevent Russia and Belarus from using sport as a propaganda tool.
The letter stated: “We know sport and politics in Russia and Belarus are heavily intertwined, and we are determined that the regimes in Russia and Belarus must not be allowed to use sport for their propaganda purposes.
“As long as our concerns and the substantial lack of clarity and concrete detail on a workable ‘neutrality’ model are not addressed, we do not agree that Russian and Belarusian athletes should be allowed back into competition.”