Russian and Belarusian athletes will be allowed to compete as Individual Neutral Athletes (AIN) at the 2026 Milano Cortina Olympic Winter Games, under the exact same conditions as for the 2024 Paris Olympics, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) confirmed on Friday.

AINs who qualify through the existing qualification systems of the International Federations (IFs) on the field of play will compete under strict eligibility criteria based on the recommendations issued by the IOC Executive Board (EB) on March 28, 2023 for IFs and international sports event organizers, the IOC said.

The IOC EB made the decision following a meeting Friday in Milan where they discussed the experience of the Paris Olympics when 32 athletes with a Russian or Belarusian passport from 10 different sports took part.

"We also spoke about the Independent Neutral Athletes. This will be nothing new. The Executive Board will take the exact same approach that was done in Paris (Olympic Games). Nothing has changed," IOC President Kirsty Coventry said at a press conference.