Sebastian Coe opens the door to Russia's return to the Olympic programme if he becomes IOC president

The signing of a peace agreement, whether imposed or not , between Russia and Ukraine would have consequences that could affect sectors beyond the purely geopolitical. One of them is sport , since Russia has been banned from major competitions since February 2022, when it attacked Ukrainian territory with the aim of conquering it.

However, the country led by Vladimir Putin has already been targeted by the Olympic movement for years. State doping , which reached its peak at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics (the same year that Russia forcibly annexed Crimea), had already removed them from the programme as a country, forcing athletes to compete internationally under a neutral flag since 2016. From 2022, they were also forced to renounce Russia, after signing a contract attesting to this renunciation, under penalty of absolute sanction : they would not compete even under a neutral flag.

This was already evident at the Paris Olympics , with notable absences and Putin himself vetoing the presence of their representatives at the most important event in world sport. The attempt to hold its own parallel competition, the Friendship Games, which in the end were never held, demonstrated in a very visible way a reality: Russian sport (and that of its followers, such as Belarus, also sanctioned) needs to return to the Olympic programme if it wants to be a real player in the world.

This situation could change radically depending on who wins the IOC presidential election on 20 March. The successor to Thomas Bach, who has refused to seek re-election, will have one of his first tasks to decide what happens with Russia. One of the favourite candidates, Sebastian Coe , has already announced his intention.

Coe , a former athlete in the 1980s and 1990s and current president of World Athletics (the official name of the international athletics federation), has revealed in Piers Morgan 's programme that his intention is to open the door to returning to Russia... although he is cautious in his statement, aware that showing himself to be totally in favour of this decision could cost him votes .

"It is not up to me to design peace treaties. In that eventuality, it would have to be analysed very carefully. Clearly, the world is an uncertain and complicated place... All wars end with a map on the table and people," Coe tried to avoid, but finally responded to his idea.

"If we get to a situation, and I hope we do, where there is an agreement that satisfies both parties... if that position is reached, then it is much better to have people in the sport rather than leaving them out," Coe concluded, adding that he would "of course" be willing to talk to Vladimir Putin and establish normal relations.

Sebastian Coe, who is the big favourite, will compete for the IOC presidency with the Spaniard Juan Antonio Samaranch Jr. , the Frenchman David Lappartient , the Japanese Morinori Watanabe , the Jordanian Feisal al Hussein , the Swede Johan Eliasch and the Zimbabwean Kirsty Coventry , the only woman in the shortlist.