A new international federation of a summer Olympic sport will very soon address the Russian issue. It should in turn take a position on the return of Russian and Belarusian athletes. The world archery body, World Archery (WA), is due to discuss the issue at its next executive committee meeting. Its press service explained in a statement, in response to a question from the TASS agency: “The issue will be discussed at the next meeting of our executive committee. It is scheduled in the coming weeks.” In early March 2022, the World Archery had decided to exclude Russian and Belarusian athletes from all international events until further notice. The body also banned Russia and Belarus from hosting or bidding to host international archery competitions. Since last month, five international federations of a summer Olympic sport – fencing, table tennis, taekwondo, wrestling and triathlon – have come out in favour of a conditional return of Russian and Belarusian athletes. World Archery could follow suit. It is chaired by the Turkish Ugur Erdener. An IOC member since 2008, he was vice-president during the last Olympiad (2016-2020).
