ITTF Executive Board reinstates athletes with Russian passports

BEIJING -- Athletes holding a Russian passport are permitted to participate in International Table Tennis Federation and para table tennis events starting from July 28, 2026, the ITTF announced on Monday.

The International Olympic Committee Executive Board provisionally lifted the suspension of the Russian Olympic Committee on July 7, and confirmed that the IOC recommendations to International Federations concerning the participation of Russian athletes and teams are no longer applicable.

"Following consideration of this development, and in line with the ITTF Executive Board's recent decision concerning the reinstatement of athletes with a Belarusian passport, and in consideration of the principle of equal treatment of athletes and the need for any restrictions on participation to remain necessary, proportionate and objectively justified, the ITTF Executive Board has decided that athletes holding a Russian passport shall be reinstated and permitted to participate in ITTF table tennis and Para table tennis events, under the ordinary conditions applicable to all athletes, with effect from 28 July 2026," the ITTF said in a statement, adding that the decision applies to ITTF-sanctioned events and covers both individual and team events.

The table tennis governing body said the decision is "without prejudice to any applicable law, host country requirement, visa restriction, sanctions regime, public authority instruction, security assessment, anti-doping requirement, integrity assessment, safeguarding measure, disciplinary rule, accreditation requirement, or competition rule."

"The ITTF will now proceed with the necessary operational steps to implement the decision across its competition systems, entry and accreditation procedures, ranking and results systems, event documentation, and stakeholder communications," it said.